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Contaminated and disturbed sites (quarries, sludge disposal sites and waste dumps)
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4.3.3. Contaminated and disturbed sites (quarries, sludge disposal sites and waste dumps)
Over the past five years (1995-2000), industrial and municipal waste generation in Ukraine varied within a range of 424 to 458 million tonnes per year in absolute terms. Mining industries contribute about 90% to the total waste generation in the country, whereas municipal waste accounts for 1.5%. The total estimated area of solid waste disposal sites is 84,000 ha, to accommodate the total accumulated amount of about 12 billion tonnes of waste.
All solid wastes can be grouped into three main categories:
- Industrial solid waste (ISW);
- Municipal solid waste (MSW);
- Wastewater treatment sludge (WTS).
A significant proportion of the national mineral resources of Ukraine is also concentrated in the Dnipro Basin, and together with the related mining industries, is one of the major contributors to waste generation and environment pollution.
In the Dnipro Basin, the most important mineral resource bases are: the Krivy Rig/Kremenchug iron ore deposit; the Nikopol manganese ore deposit; the Dnipro/Donbass oil/gas fields; the Dnipro brown-coal deposit; and the Western Donbass coal deposit.
In the Krivy Rig area (on the right bank of the Basin), iron ore was historically extracted at 10 quarries and 23 mines, most of which have recently closed. The total area of all quarries is 40.5 km2, with a void space of 6.5 km3, and depths as great as 300 metres. There are also mines as deep as 1,100 m. Forty four (44) mining waste disposal sites occupy an area of 69 km2 with a total waste volume of 1.64 km3. A further 1.4 km3 (2.5 billion tonnes) of ore enrichment process waste is stored at waste disposal sites for mine tailings.
Near Kremenchug (on the left bank of the Basin), there are 2 operational quarries, which have a void space of 0.8 km3 and a depth of up to 150 m, together with 11 waste disposal sites for mine tailings covering an area of 5.4 km2. There is also a sludge storage site of approximately 14 km2 located directly within the Vorskla River floodplain. This site has caused progressive salinisation and contamination of the alluvial aquifer associated with the Dnipro River. Sludge fields and tailing waste disposal sites are inherent to the ore enrichment and agglomeration industries concentrated in the Krivy Rig and Kremenchug areas. The length of each site varies from 4-5 to 8-10 km, with widths ranging from 2.0-2.5 to 4.5-5.5 km. The total area of land converted to iron-ore mining operations is 700 km2, including 100 km2 of land classified as a ‘rock failure zone’, and further 200 km2 occupied by sludge disposal sites and tailings. Wind erosion and dust storms cause migration of contaminants to soil and water. In the locations of sludge disposal sites and technical water reservoirs, groundwater levels are continuously elevated, with water salinity levels being extremely high at groundwater sources and surface water bodies.
The storage of waste and the continued pumping of saline wastewater from mines and quarries (up to 50 million m3 per year) has led to concern over increasing levels of pollution in the Lower Dnipro and Dniprovsky Liman (the Dnipro Estuary). Average mineralisation in these waters is 12 g/l, although levels of up to 18-30 mg/l, and even 46 g/l have been reported.
In the Samara river basin (the left-bank tributary of the Dnipro), 10 mines are operated which have generated over 20 million m3 of mining waste. This is accumulated in 13 waste storage sites with a total area of over 100 hectares. The Samara River itself receives saline mining waters from mine sites. In the Byk and Vovcha Rivers (the Samara tributaries), the mean annual salinity level is 2.5–3.5 g/dm3, and bottom sediments contain heavy metals at elevated concentrations.
The Dnipro brown-coal deposit comprises a series of smaller deposits, extending along the right bank of the Dnipro River in its middle reach, i.e. between the Zhitomyr and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts. Brown-coal mining processes involve the draining of the ore-bearing layer, whose depth can reach 80–100 m), and results in subsidence of the land surface in the locations of mine fields.
In the Nikopol manganese ore field, 10 quarries and 7 mines are in operation. The waste material generated over the operational life of these facilities is stored at 15 sludge disposal sites.
The current situation regarding waste management and disposal is critical, with many existing sites in a very poor condition, operating illegally and not meeting ecological and sanitary requirements. A number of disposal sites have been commissioned which are currently operating without basic documentation and permits.
A waste disposal site audit, carried out by the Environmental Inspectorate of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Nuclear Safety of Ukraine, covered 2,208 sites (580 industrial and 1,628 municipal) occupying an area of 35,400 hectares. The audit findings indicated that none of these sites met existing environmental safety requirements. Only 23% of these were reported to have at least some form of design, and only 32% were equipped with observation wells. Many sites are reaching or have reached capacity. The situation with regard to municipal solid waste management is critical. For instance, the Zaporizhzhia Oblast has 27 operating landfills, 325 waste dumps in rural areas, and 373 cattle burial grounds. There are 201 waste dumps in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, and 366 waste dumps in the Poltava Oblast. Some sites are located in highly industrialised areas (for example, the Sula River Basin). None of the rural waste disposal sites and cattle burial grounds meet environmental safety requirements. The Zhitomyr and Volyn Oblasts are reported to have no specialised facilities for the reception and disposal of toxic waste and this material is currently disposed of at sanitary landfills or dumped illegally.
A critical environmental situation has developed in the locations of former military sites. For example, near the town of Uzin, the total area of the groundwater aquifer contaminated by oil products is about 100 km2. Near Bila Tserkva, a significant part of the Alexandria Dendrological Park is threatened due to large-scale oil and hexavalent chromium contamination. These contaminated sites also pose a threat to the adjacent Hydrobiological Station of the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, where fish ponds are maintained to conserve and protect valuable fish species, representing the Far East fauna complex.
