Environmental impact of the accumulated industrial waste: geo-ecological evaluation (a case study of the former arsenic plant, Vershino-Darasunsky settlement)
Abstract
The article deals with the geological-and-ecological state of the Vershino-Darasunsky settlement area, Trans-Baikal Territory, with the aim to define the degree of arsenic and heavy metal pollution of the above area and the former arsenic plant site. The analysis using certified methods has been conducted by the accredited laboratory of Irkutsk National Research and Technical University, the research objects being natural and technogenic objects of the former arsenic plant site. The paper presents the results of study on the arsenic and heavy metal content in the ruins of the plant structures, the site soil, and the cinder heaps. The study has shown that the arsenic and heavy metals content in all the samples is several hundred times the norm value. Based on the obtained monitoring data, a map of the arsenic content areal distribution for Vershino-Darasunsky settlement has been drawn. Besides, an aggregate index of soil pollution of the Vershino-Darasunsky are has been calculated. The index value is 553.61, which corresponds to the ‘extremely dangerous’ pollution category. In this connection, there is an urgent need for rehabilitation measures to eliminate the effect of the accumulated environmental damage caused to the natural-and-technological complex of the study area.
About the Author
O. L. Kachor
Irkutsk National Research Technical University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Cand. Sci. (Eng.), Associate Professor, Department of Mineral Processing and Environmental Protection, Institute of Subsoil Use
83, Lermontov St., Irkutsk, 664074, Russia
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Review
For citations:
Kachor O.L. Environmental impact of the accumulated industrial waste: geo-ecological evaluation (a case study of the former arsenic plant, Vershino-Darasunsky settlement). Earth sciences and subsoil use. 2019;42(3):279-286. (In Russ.)
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