PROSPECTS FOR EFFECTIVE NATIONAL MANAGEMENT OF ABANDONED METAL MINE WATER POLLUTION IN THE UK

This article briefly outlines the estimated scale of water pollution arising from abandoned non-coal mines (particularly metal mines) in the UK (in the order of 200 km of streams and rivers affected), and provides examples of the chemical characteristics of such waters, which are principally polluted with metals such as zinc, copper and iron. Although there is a substantial body of water quality data for some of the worst abandoned mine sites, the overall national picture is piecemeal in terms of our understanding of the impacts of metal mine waters on the UK’s watercourses. This is in part because of a limited understanding of the significance of diffuse mine water pollution in river catchments affected by mine water pollution. The advent of the EU Water Framework Directive has re-focused attention on pollution from abandoned non-coal mines, and the UK government has therefore recently commissioned a research project that has the aim of identifying and prioritising non-coal mine sites which have a significant impact on the environment. The methodology that is currently being developed will identify sites that are a priority for remediation or a priority for further data collection, and will take account not only of the chemical and ecological impacts of mine water discharges on receiving watercourses, but also of stakeholder interests, such as conservation and heritage concerns, which experience shows can both impede or compliment efforts to remediate mine sites. It is hoped that the outcomes of the project will be the foundation of a Water Framework Directive programme of measures for effective management of non-coal mine water pollution in the UK