Environmental Impact on Soil and Water Because of Mining Activities in the Eastern Part of Jiu Valley

Analysing environmental impacts of mining activities involves detailed studies of the interactions between technological activities/operations carried out in a mining operation and environmental components affected by them. In order to carry out a more complex environmental impact assessment caused by mining in the eastern part of Jiu Valley on soil and water 4 mining units have been considered in the study, these being mining unit Lonea, Petrila, and Livezeni with their belonging dumps.

Main objective of this research is to analyse the impact caused by mining activities in Eastern part of Jiu Valley by the method of impact networks according to the model “causes - pressures, depreciation of the quality of environmental factors – affected parameters - impact”. Thus, impacts caused by the mining industry were identified based on the top-down typology, being shaped impact networks for underground coal exploitation and sterile material storage on the surface. The metal content of the dumps was also analysed in order to assess the degree of metals soil enrichment compared to the reference concentration of a blank sample. The analysis of the influence of the local rainfall regime aims to highlight the leaching potential of heavy metals in the body of the dump and the possibility of analysing the scenarios of extension of the pollution phenomenon to the saturated area. The study is addressed to researchers, environmental engineers, hydrogeologists and geologists who want to deepen the study of transfer mechanisms of contaminants from dumps to watercourses receiving areas and their dispersion in unsaturated and saturated areas.