Remediation measures and displacement of pollutants in soils affected by the spill of a pyrite mine

Long-term contamination in a recovered area affected by a mining spill

“…Reports describing the evolution of contamination from the Aznalcóllar spill have examined leaching across the soil profile (Kraus and Wiegand, 2006;Aguilar et al, 2007;Álvarez-Ayuso et al, 2008), the temporal and spatial variations in the pollutant concentrations (Burgos et al, 2006;Vanderlinden et al, 2006;Ordóñez et al, 2007;Simón et al, 2008), and the effects of soil amendments (Walker et al, 2004;Aguilar et al, 2004;Querol et al, 2006), as well as analysing the effectiveness of phytoremediation techniques (Clemente et al, 2005;Vázquez et al, 2006;Bernal et al, 2007). Although the remediation measures gradually decreased the concentration of pollutants in the affected soils, six years after the accident, especially in the upper part of the affected area (first 18 km downstream from the source of the contamination), an irregular distribution pattern of contamination in the affected soils was easily discernible, with highly polluted spots alternating with other much less polluted areas (Simón et al, 2008).…”

Effect of different soil layers on porewater to remediate acidic surface environment at a close mine site

“…Remediation actions can involve a long range of activities designated to enhance the quality of the affected good (air, water and/or soil) that may include the excavation and removal of contaminated soil and/or rocks (Mulligan et al 2001;Simón et al 2008). Even though this method seems like a logical answer to overcome this problem, it is not realistic in many cases due to the vast size of the contaminated pg.…”

In-situ remediation of acid mine drainage using a permeable reactive barrier in Aznalcóllar (Sw Spain)

“…On the 25th April 1998, a retention wall of a tailing dam of the mine collapsed resulting in the release of approx. 4 million m 3 of AMD and 2 million m 3 of toxic mud rich in heavy metals [11][12][13]. Over the following days the spill flowed 40 km downstream the Agrio and Guadiamar rivers covering a zone about 800 m wide along them [11] and threating the Doñana National Park, a UN World Heritage Area and important RAMSAR site.…”

“…construction of walls to retain the flood, withdrawal of mud and dead fauna, construction of a water treatment plant, among others. Despite these efforts and further cleanup operations in 1999 and 2000, large areas of soil and sediment still remained contaminated [12][13][14].…”

“…Many studies have reported the long-term effects caused by the spillage on the local soils [12][13][14][15], groundwater [16], biota [17] and fluvial geomorphology and hydrology [18]. In order to mitigate some of these long-term effects, the installation of a PRB was proposed based on the only PRB for AMD reported in the scientific literature at that time [7].…”