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Assessment of Acid Sulfate Drainage in an Environmental Liability Associated with an Ancient Sulfuric Acid Industry in a Sector of the Río de la Plata Coastal Plain: Impacts On Soil And Water Quality

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Abstract

Environmental liabilities have become one of the most important problems at environmental level, especially those located in urban areas. Within the area of the Río de la Plata coastal plain, industrial waste abandoned by an ancient sulfuric acid industry in a sector of the petrochemical center constitutes an environmental liability composed mainly of fragments of native sulfur. The aim of this work is to evaluate, from laboratory tests, the generation of sulfate acid drainage in environmental liabilities associated with the ancient sulfuric acid industry in order to identify the waste spatial distribution and to determine the impacts that they impart on the quality of the soil and groundwater. The results obtained show that the native sulfur scattered in the environmental liability associated with the ancient sulfuric acid industry constitutes a potential source of sulfated acid drainage that locally affects the soil, groundwater, and underground structures of the industrial center, and also small adjacent ecosystems. The interaction between native sulfur and the rainwater causes the oxidation of the native sulfur releasing protons and sulfates, which reach the groundwater through the infiltration water process, generating the acidification of the environment. The results provide useful draft for the management of environmental liabilities, and also the monitoring data obtained could assist in prioritization of remediation options, which constitute a problem of relevance and whose regulations for management and mitigation are still a controversial issue.

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Acknowledgements

L. Santucci acknowledges a postdoctoral fellowship and E. Carol is member of CIC in the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (National Council for Scientific and Technological Research).

Data and materials availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Funding

The authors received funding from Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (National Agency for Scientific and Technological Promotion) and the Universidad Nacional de La Plata (National University of La Plata) of Argentina by means of their grants PICT 2016-0539 and N906 respectively.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP), La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Germán Albiero

  2. Centro de Investigaciones Geológicas (CIG), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP), Calle 64 y Diag. 113, 1900, La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Lucía Santucci & Eleonora Carol

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  1. Germán Albiero
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  2. Lucía Santucci
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  3. Eleonora Carol
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Contributions

AG: field surveys and water and sediments sampling in the petrochemical center area, chemical analysis of water and sediments samples, investigation and writing the manuscript. SL: field surveys and water and sediments sampling in the petrochemical center area, chemical analysis of water and sediments samples. Interpretation of geochemical data, investigation and writing the manuscript. CE: field surveys and water and sediments sampling in the petrochemical center area. Interpretation of geochemical data, investigation, writing the manuscript and funding acquisition.

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Correspondence to Lucía Santucci.

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Albiero, G., Santucci, L. & Carol, E. Assessment of Acid Sulfate Drainage in an Environmental Liability Associated with an Ancient Sulfuric Acid Industry in a Sector of the Río de la Plata Coastal Plain: Impacts On Soil And Water Quality. Water Air Soil Pollut 232, 150 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-021-05107-1

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