A Classification System for Environmental Pressures Related to Mine Water Discharges

Abstract.

A survey of information on hazardous mine water discharges in the Central and Eastern European EU Accession Countries and a review of existing ranking systems and studies in Europe indicated a need to establish a common and easily understandable ranking system for environmental pressures that could be used to evaluate the existing situation and to assess and compare potential problems on a multinational and catchment basis. A method is proposed, combining two parameters: the flow rate of the discharge and its qualitative character, expressed as the number of times any environmental standard (maximum permissable concentration, MPC) is exceeded. These two parameters can be combined into one pressure factor (PF), defined as the log of the number of times a standard was exceeded + the log of the emission flow rate, m³/day. The data can be expressed on a special plot, with five gradations that define the number of times the standards were exceeded (from A = more than 1000 times to E = not exceeded), and a numerical designation that reflects the flow rate. The available information and estimated parameters for different mine sites in Central and Eastern Europe were compared on a single plot that shows the number of times the MPC was exceeded and the flow rates generated by mining of different commodities on various scales.