Assessment of the impact of waste of mining and chemical enterprises on surface water quality

Abstract

The mining and chemical industry causes pollution of the soil and water environment both during its operation and after its termination. The waste of large industrial complexes poses a particular danger to the aquatic environment. Tailings storage facilities located in the Dniester River basin are characterized by a low level of environmental safety of these facilities, which indicates unsatisfactory management and their neglected state. Violation of the rules for the operation of tailings can lead to industrial accidents on a transboundary scale with uncontrolled emissions of pollutants and devastating consequences for the environment.The purpose of the study is to assess the impact of waste from State Enterprise “Rozdil mining and chemical enterprise “Sirka”” on the quality of the largest water bodies in the area of influence of this enterprise – lakes Serednie, Hlyboke and Kysle, located near industrial waste storage areas, and the mine channel through which water flows into the transboundary river Dniester.The work experimentally determined and analyzed the indicators of water samples taken in 2021–2022 from the largest reservoirs in the zone of influence of SE “Rozdil MCE “Sirka”” – lakes Serednie, Hlyboke and Kysle, located near industrial waste storage sites and the water from which flows into the transboundary Dniester River along the mining channel (channel of Lake Hlyboke-Dniester River).In the analyzed water samples of the Hlyboke, Seredne, Kysle lakes and the mine channel, an excess of the MPC for sulfates is observed by 1.5–6 times, and the mineralization index by 2.3–3 times. There is a tendency to decrease the content of ammonium nitrogen in the studied reservoirs. In 2017 and in 2021–2022, there was a deviation from the water pH standards in Lake Kysle, as well as exceeding the MPC for phosphates, sulfates, ammonium nitrogen, and mineralization. In the mine channel, the maximum limit was found to be exceeded according to the following indicators: pH, sulfates, ammonium nitrogen.It is expedient to consider the issue of environmental safety of tailings at both the international and national levels. It is extremely important to improve the policy of prevention and liquidation of the consequences of accidents, interaction between civil protection management bodies and enterprises.