ERMITE: supporting European policy making on mine wastes and waters

After the Aznalcóllar and Baia Mare disasters the regulation of the envi-ronmental impacts from the extractive industries has become a focus of at-tention for European environmental policy. The EC Framework 5 project ERMITE has specifically supported the development of European policies on the management of water in the mining sector. One component of the project was the review of mine water policies in six case study countries in Europe and their links with European policy. This paper presents a sum-mary of the findings of the UK case study. A key element of the project was the establishment a National Stakeholder Group with regulators, in-dustry, consultants and representatives of civil society. Four main open is-sues for mine water management in the UK were identified: closure of coal mines and large coalfields, abandoned metal mines, spoil heaps and im-provement of working mines and quarries. From the analysis of the UK position on the consultations for the proposed Directive on waste from the extractive industries three critical questions are discussed: water pollution from excavation voids, establishment of programmes of abandoned site remediation and inclusion of all structures for stability and water pollution purposes. Finally, based on the conclusions of the study the UK ERMITE team proposes a set of seven specific recommendations for mine water management in the UK