Assessment of the Condition of Soils before Planned Hard Coal Mining in Southern Poland: A Starting Point for Sustainable Management of Fossil Fuel Resources

Katarzyna Sutkowska, Leslaw Teper (), Tomasz Czech and Arthur Walker
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Katarzyna Sutkowska: Institute of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Silesia, Bedzinska 60, 41-200 Sosnowiec, Poland
Leslaw Teper: Institute of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Silesia, Bedzinska 60, 41-200 Sosnowiec, Poland
Tomasz Czech: Department of Agricultural and Environmental Chemistry, University of Agriculture in Krakow, Al. A. Mickiewicza 21, 31-120 Kraków, Poland
Arthur Walker: Institute of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Silesia, Bedzinska 60, 41-200 Sosnowiec, Poland

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 2, 1-14

Abstract: In Poland’s largest mining district, the Upper Silesian Coal Basin, there is a growing interest in resource development by small operators. Some concession areas are not yet directly affected by the mining industry. The objects of this research are two such areas and the goal is to determine a load of heavy metals (HM) in soils prior to mining projects and to assess the extent of their contamination at this stage. The metals studied were Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn, while HM contamination was assessed using the Contamination Factor (CF), Contamination Degree (CD), Pollution Load Index (PLI), and Geoaccumulation Index (I geo ). The Ecological Risk Potential Index (E R ) and Comprehensive Potential Ecological Risk Index (PERI) were also employed. The pre-mining areas are close to an area where mining was terminated before 2000. For this area, we performed the same set of analyses as for the pre-mining areas studied. HM concentration levels and pollution indices in post-mining areas are significantly higher than in pre-mining areas. The results obtained in the post-mining area give an idea of the expected type and scale of potential threat to soils from mining and can form the basis for monitoring environmental contamination in subsequent investment and operation phases, as well as help develop and implement timely methods to prevent the increase in heavy metal immission to soils during mining activities. We believe that the presented approach of assessing the condition of soils starting at the pre-mining stage can support the sustainable management of energy resources in the cases studied and elsewhere.

Keywords: heavy metals; pollution indices; ecological risk; coal (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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