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Ecological and Geochemical State of the Soil Cover of Gusinoozersk in the Impact Zone of Coal Thermal Power Plant

  • DEGRADATION, REHABILITATION, AND CONSERVATION OF SOILS
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Abstract—

The pollution of upper soil horizons in the city of Gusinoozersk (the Republic of Buryatia) under the influence of emissions from the State District Power Plant (SDPP) working on brown coal from the Okino-Klyuchevskii deposit was studied. The contents of 14 elements (Sr, As, Co, Mo, Sb, V, Cu, Ni, Cr, W, Zn, Bi, Cd, and Pb) in bulk soil samples, as well as in the fraction of physical clay (particles with a diameter <10 µm, PM10) and in samples of brown coal and ash from the SDPP were determined. Priority pollutants of local soils (Urbic Technosols) are Sr, As, Co, Mo, Sb, and V; these elements tend to have higher concentrations in the PM10 fraction. The most contaminated area is the industrial zone of the city, where Sr, As, Co, V, Cu, Mo, Ni, and Cr contained in the fly ash of the Gusinoozersk SDPP tend to accumulate. A larger part of the territory (57% for bulk soils and 47% for the PM10 fraction) is characterized by a low level of pollution (Zc = 8–16). Arsenic poses the greatest environmental hazard; in the PM10 fraction, its concentrations exceed the maximum permissible concentration in 90% of the studied samples. The main factors controlling the accumulation of elements in soils and their PM10 fraction are the contents of iron and manganese oxides and organic matter, soil texture, acid–base conditions, and the location of sampling sites in the particular land use zones; these factors specify the formation of various classes of geochemical barriers. The polluting effect of brown coals depends on the contents of heavy metals and metalloids in them. A comparison of the chemical composition of the Okino-Klyuchevskii brown coal and fly ash from the Gusinoozersk SDPP with the Kansk–Achinsk coal and fly ash from the Central Thermal Power Plant (CTPP) of Severobaikal’sk indicates that the brown coal and ash from Severobaikal’sk are only slightly enriched in metals and metalloids, which significantly reduces their accumulations in soils.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors are grateful to Director of the Gusinoozersk SDPP M.Yu. Chelovechkin for assistance in surveying the territory of the SDPP and adjacent areas.

Funding

Field and laboratory work was supported by the joint project of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research and the Russian Geographical Society no. 17-29-05055-ofi_m; data treatment was performed under state assignment no. 8/D-2021 “Development of an Integrated (Integral) Assessment of the Anthropogenic Impact and the State of the Environment of Lake Baikal”; comparative analysis of the data was supported by the Interdisciplinary Scientific and Educational Program of M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University “The Future of the Planet and Global Environmental Changes.”

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  1. Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991, Moscow, Russia

    D. G. Sycheva & N. E. Kosheleva

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Translated by D. Konyushkov

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Sycheva, D.G., Kosheleva, N.E. Ecological and Geochemical State of the Soil Cover of Gusinoozersk in the Impact Zone of Coal Thermal Power Plant. Eurasian Soil Sc. 56, 1114–1129 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1064229323600896

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