Risk Assessment For Hazardous Waste Disposal In Abandoned Mines (original) (raw)

Underground hazardous waste disposal: a dynamic alternative to current hazardous waste management

2004

Current hazardous waste management in Europe is characterized by great differences from country to country. In the majority of EU and other European countries landfill or incineration are the main options, although in several Western European countries recovery of hazardous waste is also important. European Directive 99/31 rises up the environmental standards for landfills and pushes hard for a big increase of the already high landfill tipping fees. Practically, this Directive acts as a market driver prohibiting new hazardous waste landfills. Taking into account that European Council Decision 2003/33 provides a concrete framework for the safe use of underground space, it seems that underground disposal in abandoned mines is a cheap and viable solution for hazardous waste. The investigation on a suitable technology for that purpose was the main objective of the research project “Low Risk Disposal Technology”. The paper presents the basic principles of the technology proposed and comp...

Safety Assessment For Disposal Of HazardousWaste In Abandoned Underground Mines

2004

Disposal of hazardous chemical waste in abandoned underground mines is believed to be an achievable, low risk and relatively cheap way of disposal of hazardous waste. The objective of the FP5 EC project Low Risk Disposal Technology (LowRiskDT) was to investigate the prerequisites for using this alternative, to outline suitable design and construction technology and to make a performance assessment with special respect to environmental safety and cost. Calculations were made of the isolating capacity of reference repositories in terms of the concentration of hazardous ion species appearing in the far-field groundwater. Relevant flow and dispersion models were applied to the reference cases representing different rock structures and flow path patterns. The release and migration of dissolved hazardous chemical species with special respect to groundwater protection are determined for the worst-case scenario. A numerical tool has been developed that can be used for analysis of transport ...

Rational and Economic Disposal of Hazardous Waste: Use of Abandoned Mines

Deep geological disposal of dangerous waste like mercury, solidified organic pesticides and radioactive rest products, requires suitable engineered barriers. Use of deep abandoned mines is a rational and economic alternative to construction of a repository in virgin rock but requires knowledge of the structural constitution of the rock for assessment of groundwater flow and rock mechanical conditions. Such information is much more detailed through the activities of mining companies than from exploration of virgin rock. Organizations responsible for disposal of radioactive waste in crystalline rock count on the host rock as a barrier to migration of released radionuclides to the biosphere but present investigations reduce its role to provide mechanical support of the waste packages while effective hindrance of migration of contaminants can be offered by engineered barriers, i.e. waste containers and clay embedding them. For certain waste in granular form, like Hg batteries, mixing wi...

PROJECT and RISK MANAGEMENT FOR THE RECLAMATION OF OLD MINE SITES

2007

For the sustainable reclamation of an old industrial area the basic principles of project and risk management, were applied. This article summarizes the project and risk management of a reclamation project, in Lavrion, Greece. In Thorikos bay disposal of mining and metallurgical wastes in the past, resulted in the contamination with heavy metals and Acid Mine Drainage. The objective of this reclamation project was to return this coastal zone from a contaminated site to an area suitable for recreation purposes. For the identification of hazards data available from comprehensive studies, as well as field data, provided the basis to determine the relevant risk for environmental contamination. For treating environmental risk, isolation and minimization of risk option was selected, and a reclamation scheme was selected based on environmental criteria, and comprised the in-situ neutralization, stabilization and cover of the potentially acid generating wastes and contaminated soils with low permeability geochemical barrier technique. Additional measures were specifically applied in the areas where highly sulphidic wastes consisted active acid generation sources, including the encapsulation of wastes in HDPE liners, installed on clay layers.

Coordinated Approach to Remediation of Abandoned Mine Hazards

Developing a strategy for dealing with the complex problems of remediating hazardous mine sites in municipal areas calls for an integrated approach where planners, engineers and municipal and government authorities can work together to organize, fund and then construct appropriately engineered remedial works. In Cobalt, the sudden collapse of a highway into an old mine working necessitated immediate assessment and investigation of the problem and development of a mechanism for fast release and allocation of appropriate government level funding to expedite the emergency remediation works required to make the area safe. In addition to the many novel engineering solutions that were developed to investigate and remediate the hazard sites, remediation of the Cobalt problems saw the landmark creation of an Inter-Ministry Abandoned Mines Hazard Committee charged with the responsibility of expediting the remediation works. With this authority vested in members of the committee, not only were innovative engineering ideas spawned from the multi~iscip1inary thinking but various new approaches and methods were also developed for expediting and obtaining emergency funding.