mass movement of “solid” wastes (generally tailings containing heavy metals and toxic compounds); • mass movement of liquid, or semi-liquid wastes (again, generally tailings containing heavy metals and toxic compounds); • waterborne transport of wastes as suspended solids and as dissolved materials. Such physical risks occur in many jurisdictions around the globe, but the mining countries of this part of Europe share a geographical location and historical pathway that combines with their geological resources in a unique manner. Some of the parameters shared by most or all countries in the region are that: • the mining sector is a very important contributor to local and national economies and that ongoing and new mining activities will be required to underpin the economies in the future; • the countries are (relatively) rich in mineral resources and have a long – or very long – history of mineral resource extraction activities; • there already exists a serious history of mining accidents, due in part to the widespread neglect of environmental safety and human security issues combined with sub-standard extraction and waste management activities, particularly in the post 1945 era; • transboundary pollution risks associated with mining and mineral processing activities and the legacies of such past activities are many and marked;4 • nation states have been subject to marked changes in economic and political circumstances, conflict, and socio-economic hardship during the 1990s that have exacerbated the problems associated with some sites; • accession to the European Union is imminent or foreseeable and compliance with a range of EU environmental and safety regulations is required for that process to proceed; • legislative frameworks addressing mining and minerals processing activities, extractive industry legacies as well as accountability (and jurisdictional remit) for the environmental 4. Countries are the producers or receivers of chronic and (potentially) acute pollution from their neighbours that can include: airborne transport of pollutants such as dust, smelter emissions, gases, vapours; mass movement of “solid” wastes (generally tailings containing heavy metals and toxic compounds); mass movement of liquid, or semi-liquid wastes (again, generally tailings containing heavy metals and toxic compounds); waterborne transport of wastes as suspended solids and as dissolved materials.
aspects of these activities are still in a state of development or flux; • capacity within institutions supporting the extractive industries as well as those guiding transboundary risk management and/or disaster response are currently insufficient to deal with the task at hand; • in economies in transition, national fiscal reserves available for the financing of site reclamation work, and/or social welfare “nets” for the support of communities affected by the environmental impacts of the extractive industries, or the closure of mining operations, may be minimal or non-existent. This confluence of conditions suggests some urgency in the matter – particularly in issues surrounding abandoned and orphaned sites (legacies). In addition, there seems to be a clear and unequivocal interest from within the subject states in the promotion of flexible solutions to find other economic uses or value in abandoned or orphaned mine sites as well as in removing their hazard vectors. Against this background, it is held that it is necessary to support the ongoing assessment of transboundary environmental and human safety risks posed by sub-standard mining operations – both active and abandoned; implementation of risk reduction measures through demonstration at selected sites, evaluation and testing of possible policy changes and transboundary cooperation mechanisms.
an agenda for the mining for closure report At the outset it is reiterated that a fundamental point of departure is the view that ongoing mining activities are vital to sustainable development and environmental protection in the SEE/TRB in general. This is a view shared in varying degrees by development agencies such as the World Bank Group (Onorato, Fox, & Strongman, 1997; Strongman, 2000) and federations of environmental groups such as the European Environmental Bureau (2000). Further, the report addresses key need areas supporting the “next steps forward” at both local (national) scale and in a transboundary and regional perspective that were presented within the Deskassessment study for the Environment and Security Initiative Project generated in 2004 (Peck, MINING FOR CLOSURE
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