Screening and prioritisation of chemical risks from metal mining operations, identifying exposure media of concern

Abstract

Metals have been central to the development of human civilisation from the Bronze Age to modern times, although in the past, metal mining and smelting have been the cause of serious environmental pollution with the potential to harm human health. Despite problems from artisanal mining in some developing countries, modern mining to Western standards now uses the best available mining technology combined with environmental monitoring, mitigation and remediation measures to limit emissions to the environment. This paper develops risk screening and prioritisation methods previously used for contaminated land on military and civilian sites and engineering systems for the analysis and prioritisation of chemical risks from modern metal mining operations. It uses hierarchical holographic modelling and multi-criteria decision making to analyse and prioritise the risks from potentially hazardous inorganic chemical substances released by mining operations. A case study of an active platinum group metals mine in South Africa is used to demonstrate the potential of the method. This risk-based methodology for identifying, filtering and ranking mining-related environmental and human health risks can be used to identify exposure media of greatest concern to inform risk management. It also provides a practical decision-making tool for mine acquisition and helps to communicate risk to all members of mining operation teams.

An Information Framework for Facilitating Cost Saving of Environmental Impacts in the Coal Mining Industry in South Africa

“…These chemical spills have the ability to damage aquatic flora and fauna, including other plant types at trophic intensities higher up in the food chain, particularly plant species that may not withstand the upsurge in high levels of metal content in waste water [11]. Coal-mining companies should, therefore, operate within the relevant environmental policies to avoid environmental degradation, human diseases, and air pollution.…”

“…Repetitive counteractive verification and controlling of risk are fundamental for directing the focus and resources on the potentially utmost destructive risks, identified through stressful evaluation of risk [11]. Since coal mining is a complex operation, proper risk management should be taken into account by coal-mining companies.…”

Data analysis for environmental impact of dredging

“…Data on the water quality index (WQI) from the Annual River Quality Status between 2006 and 2010, reported by the Malaysian DOE, were analysed to determine the water quality status of rivers upstream from the dredging site. Malaysia has not established its own reference values for sediment quality, so reference values used in other countries including Ireland, the United Kingdom, Belgium and (Toes, 2008) contaminated organics at the sediment surface; Could be caused by the anaerobic reduction of metal-containing iron-(hydr)oxides; The site is located in the vicinity of an industrial wharf As, Zn, Cd and Pb Increased Disposal e (Lions, 2010) Canada were applied for the sake of comparison (Pan, 2010, Praveena, 2008 The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 2006). All analysis in this paper related to duration was based on the date of first monitoring until completion of dredging at the location, ranging from 1 to 32 months.…”

Prioritising Soil Quality Assessment Through the Screening of Sites: The Use of Publicly Collected Data

“…Use of a clear and systematic risk assessment framework allows for consistency of approaches to all situations and to efficiency of regulatory delivery through screening procedures, which can quickly identify high-risk circumstances requiring immediate attention (Pollard et al, 2002;OECD, 2003). The well-established application of tiered risk-based approaches in legislation relating to contaminated site and engineering systems demonstrates the value of developing a risk analysis and prioritisation methodology (Pan et al, 2009).…”

“…Screening is normally introduced to reduce costs and to ensure more efficient use of resources and aims to complement the risk assessment process by prioritising attention towards highest need. Screening approaches have been used in many applications, including extensively in environmental protection (Duarte- Davidson and Jones, 1996;Bound and Voulvoulis, 2004;Pollard et al, 2004;DCLG, 2006;McKinlay et al, 2008;Environment Agency, 2009;Pan et al, 2009). In the UK, screening is included in most tiered environmental risk assessment and is explicitly included in the over-arching risk management structure (DETR, 2000).…”