Reclamation of Mine Lands in Poland

CHAPTER

RECLAMATION OF MINE LANDS IN POLAND

27

Marcin Pietrzykowski, Wojciech Krzaklewski University of Agriculture in Krakow, Krakow, Poland

27.1 RECLAIM PRACTICE LEGAL GROUNDS AND STANDARDS IN POLAND In Poland, the first act on postmine sites reclamation was passed in the 1960s. An amendment of the Mining Law in 1960 was the first piece of legislation to impose the obligation on mining companies to restore opencast excavations by developing their sites. The consequence and an executive act of the amendment was Resolution No. 256 of the Economic Committee of the Council of Ministers in 1961 on reclamation treatment of former filling sand mines in the area of the Upper Silesian Industrial District. It was the first law containing a framework of reclamation treatments in the mining industry. At the time, large-scale research on types of mine lands and biological reclaim principles and methods was conducted under the supervision of the father of reclamation in Poland, the 1976 winner of Europe Prize (Europa-Preis für Landespflege), Professor Tadeusz Skawina. The first nationwide normative piece of legislation on reclamation was Resolution No. 301 of the Council of Ministers from 1966, containing a breakdown of reclamation into three phases: preparatory, basic (technical), and detailed (biological), and a clear division into two phases of land restoration, i.e., reclamation and development. Development thus became a separate step following the implementation of the above phases carried out by the user of land to be reclaimed. The first comprehensive law on the protection of agricultural and forest land and reclamation defining the purpose and scope of reclamation was passed in 1971 and amended in 1982. The currently applicable law on the protection of agricultural and forest land in Poland dates back to 1995. This Act defines reclamation, mentions the range of treatments and their purpose at different phases, introduces fees for halting production on agricultural and forest lands (their amounts, annual fees, fees for premature felling in case of forests). It also regulates the obligation to define reclamation treatments (from the perspective of future use) at the development stage. The cited Act is the first to set a maximum 5-year period from the termination of industrial operations to carry out reclamation. Currently in Poland regulations concerning reclamation relate not only to the postmining areas but also broadly include restoration of a variety of degraded, polluted, and devastated lands and landfills. These issues have been defined for particular groups of land and problems referring to:   1. reclamation of agricultural and forest lands where primarily the 1995 law on the protection of agricultural and forest land with latter amendments is applicable and, which defines: a. the existence of the reclamation obligation, b. entities, which are obliged to conduct reclamation, and c. issues relating to the completion of reclamation. Bio-Geotechnologies for Mine Site Rehabilitation. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-812986-9.00027-0 Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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2. r emediation of contaminated soil or land and reclamation following unfavorable transformation of the natural landscape where the Environmental Protection Law (2001), Section IV: Protecting the earth’s surface, and the quality standards for contaminated soil or land (in terms of technical engineering) are applicable. 3. reclamation of landfills and reclamation using waste; 2003 Waste Act and subsequent amendments (2012).   Provisions related to and containing major regulations regarding reclamation are also included in the following Acts: Geological and Mining Law of 27 July 2001 (that also imposes and defines the reclamation obligation) and the Law on Spatial Planning (2003). According to the cited normative act from the 1960s (Resolution 301), reclamation activities in Poland consist of three phases: preparatory (design stage), technical (basic), and biological (detailed). The preparatory phase consists of measures before or during the time when land for reclamation appears, including in particular a diagnosis of natural and technical conditions for reclamation and resources needed to implement the planned activities. The diagnosis of these conditions includes, for instance, an assessment of whether the soil top layer of a postmining site (spoil heap, opencast excavation) intended for reclamation will be optimally made of indicated deposits followed by setting reclamation goal, inclusion of reclamation project assumptions in the design, and budget documentation of such an investment. The technical phase is carried out in reclaimed sites and mainly includes: shaping the landscape and the uppermost layer of the recreated soils including the optimal use of deposits (soil substrates), regulation of hydrological conditions, and construction of road networks to provide suitable access. The biological phase mainly includes the introduction of vegetation with soil forming, protective, antierosion, and esthetic functions.

27.2 TECHNICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS OF RECLAMATION IN POLAND WITH PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON REFORESTATION The design and detailed planning of reclamation treatments is determined by the aim of reclamation (how it is to be used later) and by natural conditions, i.e., the climate, availability of soil substrates, water balance, and technical (mining) management, including management of rock overburden, and the relief of the site designed for reclamation. Reclamation is therefore an integral part of mine investment planning, which is of paramount importance to its implementation and outcomes. This is because of the fact that the implementation of mining technologies including the removal of overburden and methods of its deposition on spoil heaps, and forming opencast excavations have a direct impact on the specific habitat conditions emerging in areas subjected to reclamation (Krzaklewski & Pietrzykowski, 2007; Pietrzykowski & Krzaklewski, 2014). In addition to these conditions, which can be categorized as technical (mining) factors dependent on man, a huge impact on the degree of difficulty of biological reclamation, and efficiency of afforestation is also played by ecological factors, independent of man, such as the climate, type of water balance, and “quality” of rocks of the overburden (Pietrzykowski, 2015). Given the above, much depends on the work at the conceptual and design phase of a project and the shape of the site landscape produced by mining (Skawina, 1969; Pietrzykowski and Krzaklewski, 2014). In some cases, thanks to good use of rock overburden (producing a soil-forming substrate arrangement); mining may even create new biotopes not found in the natural environment. To give an example these could be mixtures of Neogene loam with sands, layers of sulfurous Miocene sands,

27.2  TECHNICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS OF RECLAMATION

495

which require neutralization, and which occur in the spoil heap top horizon, Carboniferous shales and sandstones, and other rocks, which occur together with fossils (Pietrzykowski, 2014). As a result, the technical phase of reclamation may even increase the biodiversity of the developed ecosystems. In areas with appropriately formed landscape, favorable hydrological conditions, and potentially productive soils, reclamation may consist of targeting and skillfully accelerating soil formation processes using biological methods such as agricultural practices, mineral fertilization, and the introduction of appropriate humus-forming vegetation. By contrast, in areas consisting of barren or phytotoxic soils (the already mentioned acidic and sulfurous Miocene sands, etc.), the basic reclamation procedure, in addition to suitable landscape formation and regulation of hydrological conditions, consists of sealing and neutralization only then followed by biological reclamation. Mining (production, transport, dumping, and mixing of material) causes changes in the original soils of the overburden, and therefore the “quality” and spatial variability assessment may only be described in detail in a formed site. The frequently occurring significant spatial variability of microhabitat conditions is a factor, which hinders reclamation. A diagnosis of habitat conditions (soil fertility) before the biological reclamation phase has a significant impact on the choice of methods and the effectiveness of the introduction of vegetation, particularly afforestation (Krzaklewski and Pietrzykowski, 2007). Mining soil fertility should be regarded on two levels as the baseline fertility and potential fertility. Fertility is influenced by: soil particle size, the ability to retain water available for plants, soil–air conditions, pH, and capacity of sorption complex, richness in nutrients and their availability to plants (Pietrzykowski, 2014). The results of a reclamation suitability assessment of deposits in the first phase should exclude phytotoxicity (overacidification, alkalization, salinity, sulphation, concentration of heavy metals, etc.) and indicates possible methods of detoxification, neutralization, or even sealing of deposits, which are unwanted on mine land. After this phase, “quality” assessment of land takes place. In Poland, the most commonly used method to assess baseline conditions, and reclaim treatment (suitability of deposits for biological reclamation) is a method developed by T. Skawina and M. Trafas (1971). It is a method based on grading classified geological formations using the so-called bonitation number (LB), the value of which is the sum of points of four indicators: lithological WL (determined on the basis of grain size), calcium WCa (relating to the content of carbonates), sorption BM (methylene blue) Wso, and soil cohesion WSp (i.e., number of points of the plasticity index calculated from the difference in yield and strength of soils). On the basis of LB point value, deposits are divided into the following classes of suitability for reclamation:   Class A—very good, useful for agricultural reclamation, LB > 75 pt. Class B—good, less suitable for agricultural reclamation and very useful for forest reclamation, 50 points.  21 pt. 2. subclass ED—toxic, which may be reclassified only to Class D following neutralization, LB ≤ 21 points.  

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The application of this classification to date has confirmed its great versatility and usefulness in the initial diagnosis of potential soil fertility (Pietrzykowski et al., 2009). To diagnose spatial lithological diversity on shaped mining sites, mapping methods are used (now also with the use of drones), which include the so-called cartographic soil method (Gołda, 2005). If there is natural vegetation from succession in the sites intended for reclamation, it may be used to identify the current habitat status (its current fertility) using the phytosociological-soil method (Krzaklewski and Pietrzykowski, 2007). This method, based on criteria derived from ecological regularities such as succession, allows to divide the sites intended for forest reclamation in Poland into three groups: sites, which do not overgrow even after 10 years of exposure (biological reclamation in these sites is very difficult); sites, which overgrow slowly, i.e., after 5 years (reclamation is difficult); sites, which overgrow quickly, i.e., after 2 years at most (reclamation is easy). If there is no vegetation from succession on a site, it is necessary to examine the properties of deposits and determine the factors that inhibit natural overgrowing. In the case of forest reclamation, a diagnosis of current and potential fertility forms the basis for planning the afforestation species composition including the possibility of introducing specific sets of species (pioneering species, climax species, phytoamelioration species) (Krzaklewski and Pietrzykowski, 2007). A different approach is required for an assessment of habitat conditions and monitoring the pace of soil processes occurring on forested mining sites where the introduced stands already modify habitat conditions. In this phase, an assessment may include possible adjustments of afforestation species composition and even total reconstruction of pioneering species planting. In Central Europe, large stretches of postmining sites, especially in Lusatia mine district in Germany and in central Poland were forested with pine monocultures (Heinsdorf, 1996; Knoche, 2005; Pietrzykowski, 2010). This afforestation practice was based on the assumption that in the first stage of succession, the biotope is colonized by pioneers. In this case, the pine is a pioneering and precrop species, which adapts to poor habitats of postmining sites and tolerates them (Pietrzykowski and Socha, 2011; Pietrzykowski, 2014). The mine soil quality index (MSQI) proposed by Pietrzykowski (2014) allows to assess “the quality” of emerging soils, to forecast the development of forest habitat and to determine the optimal species composition of stands planned for reconstruction. Following the example study by Gale et al. (1991), Burger and Kelting (1999), some assumptions were made to develop the MSQI index. The components of a soil assessment index include basic soil properties contributing to its fertility such as soil texture, nutrient availability, acidity converted into volumetric units, and subindices. Furthermore, each of the subindices was weighted with consideration of its estimated impact on the final assessment. The MSQI allowed to describe the variability of mine soils and to classify habitats in the investigated postmining sites, which include mine overburden deposits dominant in this part of Europe. As a result of the classification of habitats and an indication of the trend, which habitats will follow in the process of resembling natural forest habitats, the MSQI index may be useful in designing species composition and pine monoculture transformation in the next generation of “new forests” on mine sites.

27.3 RECLAIM SITE AREA BALANCE Poland is a country with a developed mining industry with around 0.4–0.5 billion tonnes of various mineral raw materials produced annually. These notably include the following:   • coal (about 60–70 million tonnes) • lignite (about 65 million tonnes)

27.3  Reclaim Site Area Balance

497

• filling sand (about 6.5 million tonnes) • rock minerals including sand, gravel, and crushed stone (about 230 million tonnes) • nonferrous metal ores (about 35 million tonnes) • raw binding construction materials (about 40 million tonnes).   Mining of such a large quantity of raw materials involves significant environmental and ecological impact and a constant need to implement and improve reclamation practices. It is estimated that in Poland, mining of coal, lignite, filling sand, nonferrous metal ore, sulfur, and raw materials for the production of binding construction material and ash landfills for power plants took up a total of about 90 thousand ha, including agricultural land (approx. 60%), forests (approx. 30%), and others (approx. 10%). More than 40 thousand ha were handed over for development after the completion of reclamation treatments. Filling sand and lignite mining have handed over most land, whereas nonferrous metal mining and power plants have handed over the least. Agricultural land has the largest share in the total area of the occupied sites, while there is a marked predominance of sites handed over to forestry (i.e., approx. 60%) following completion of reclamation. So far, the largest mining area has been occupied by rock raw material mining with a total of 50 thousand ha, of which it still takes up to 13.5 thousand ha (Table 27.1). Lignite mining occupied a total of over 37 thousand ha, of which 17 thousand is still under mining activity and ∼20 thousand ha have been reclaimed (Table 27.1).

Table 27.1  Dynamic of Reclamation and Management of Areas Under Mining Industry in the Last Year in Poland r Areas per Year

In the year: 2000 2005 2010 2012 2013 In mining branch: Hard coal Lignite Copper ores Zinc and lead ores Sulfur Salt (NaCl) Oil and natural gas Rock materials

Total Areas Under Mining Activity

Reclaimed

44,991 39,286 37,584 38,259 39,208

2340 1123 510 985 855

6024 17,158 293 68 825 218 1044 13,578

79 28 3 – 15 – 10 720

Data from The Main Statistical Office, Poland GUS 2014.   

Managed (ha) 574 765 243 405 510 117 125 – – – 6 20 242

Areas Transferred to New Users and Managed After Reclamation 1511 1331 369 264 1189 9 144 – 1 669 – 25 342

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Coal mining has taken up around 10 thousand ha and around 4 thousand ha have been reclaimed, sand mining (mostly filling sands) has taken up over 12 thousand ha, of which ∼ 8.5 thousand ha have been reclaimed, sulfur mining has taken up over 5 thousand ha and around 4 thousand ha have been reclaimed. Moreover, large areas have also been occupied by nonferrous metal mining (copper, zinc, and lead) including the areas occupied by the steel mills, i.e., more than 8 thousand ha, as well as the power industry related to coal-burning power plants, occupying about 6 thousand ha.

27.4 A REVIEW OF RECLAMATION PRACTICE IN THE MAIN BRANCHES OF THE MINING INDUSTRY IN POLAND 27.4.1 COAL MINING Mining of 1 tonne of coal generates ∼0.4 tonne of mining waste and tailings, of which a majority is stored as aboveground (about 1300 ha) and belowground (∼1500 ha) spoil heaps. This is where reclaim treatments are carried out with the following aims: reclamation to forest, to forest and planting schemes, to planting schemes, rarely to parks and leisure, and occasionally to agriculture. Spoil heaps mainly consist of the following (Greszta and Morawski, 1972):   • shaft waste in the form of carboniferous rocks consisting of a mixture of shale and sandstone with geogenic (detrital) carbon and iron sulfides; • processing waste in the form of carbon shale, shale clays, sandstones, and clay stones with varying admixture of geogenic carbon; • waste from water clarifiers in the form of small coal particles mixed with dust and loam; • combustion waste in the form of ash and boiler slag, and others, e.g., building rubble.   Spoil heaps made up of these groups of materials may be divided according to their shape into: conical, domed, table-like, ridge-like, and flat, and their total number is estimated at around 200. Thermal action was most important for the investigated postmining sites among the factors determining the implementation and efficiency of reclamation. The spoil heap construction technology, which is being implemented at these facilities, almost excludes thermal action. Classification of the degree of biological reclamation difficulty in the examined group of postmining sites takes into account a large number of factors, but the most important includes the following: orographic conditions, the type of material stored, its properties and the aforementioned degree of risk from thermal phenomena (Fig. 27.1). Four categories of land for reclamation may generally be distinguished in coal mining according to the degree of biological reclamation difficulty (Greszta and Morawski, 1972):   I—easy reclamation, flat spoil heaps made predominantly of carboniferous shale, burnt or unburnt, and horizontal sedimentation ponds of coal silt with a high content of clay, loam, etc.; II—moderately difficult reclamation, level spoil heaps made up of mining waste with a predominance of carboniferous sandstones, unburnt and not subject to thermal activity or partially burnt, as well as aboveground spoil heaps, low and shallow belowground spoil heaps with formed slopes, made up of materials like in Category I;

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FIGURE 27.1 Spoil heap after hard coal mining activity before reclamation and revegetation (Szczygłowice, Upper Silesia).

 

III—difficult reclamation, high aboveground spoil heaps with steep and very steep slopes, subjects to thermal action or declining thermal action, and low spoil heaps but with a predominance of sandstone, which hardly weathers as well as rubble and slag; IV—reclamation very difficult, thermally active spoil heaps.

The first organized research on reclamation of coal mine soils was conducted in the 1950s by T. Skawina (1953), and the leader in this field was and still remains the Institute of Environmental Engineering of Polish Academy of Sciences in Zabrze in Upper Silesia. This Institute developed methods of intensive biological reclamation of spoil heaps, which did not include the introduction of the so-called pioneering plants nor covering them with soil. It was thought that spoil heap deposits are potentially productive, and an important role of rational fertilization and selection of relevant vegetation in reclamation was demonstrated. The developed methods were checked out on the spoil heaps of the following mines: Bielszowice, Manifest Lipcowy, Pstrowski, Szczygłowice, and Zabrze. However, the achievements are little used in industrial scale reclamation, and engineers responsible for spoil heap design rarely apply new solutions. One example was a project to set up a recreation and sports park on the site of Piast mine soil heap in Bieruń Nowy consisting of several heaps (Bogdanowski, 1988) (Fig. 27.2). A negative phenomenon in the reclamation of the considered sites is locating soil heaps in subsidence troughs. This phenomenon is incorrectly called “early reclamation,” and such measures are regarded as the use of waste to level the site. Unfortunately, the subsidence process takes a long time, and the party responsible for transformations does not start the reclamation procedure at an appropriate time. This hampers the overall progress of reclamation and produces disharmony for the whole ecosystem. Another negative factor is the fact that the height of spoil heaps is frequently increased, which is contrary to the general reclaim requirements and reclamation aims (Strzyszcz, 2004; Fig. 27.3).

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FIGURE 27.2 Successful reclamation of hard coal spoil heap with landscape designed by Prof. Bogdanowski (Bieruń Nowy, Southern Poland, Upper Silesia).

FIGURE 27.3 Successful reclamation and afforestation of hard coal spoil heap (Szczygłowice Hard Coal Mining and Rybnik Forest Inspectorate administration, Upper Silesia, Poland).

27.4.2 LIGNITE MINING Lignite mining occupied above 37 thousand hectares ha in total. The approximate structure of the land excluded and reclamation balance in this branch of mining industry shows Table 27.2. Reclamation in lignite mining is conditioned by geologic factors. In formed spoil heaps there is a significant diversity of habitats further compounded by the steepness of slopes and their various exposures, which determine their susceptibility to erosion (Fig. 27.4).

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Table 27.2  The Range and Area Balance of Reclamation in Lignite Mine Industry in Poland Reclaimed Area

Mine (Exploitation District)

Total Area Excluded for Exploitation

To Forestry

Turek (Adamów) Konin Turów Bełchatów Łęknica

5150 10,400 4200 7500 400

780 180 1600 1550 300

In total

27,650

4410

To Agriculture

(In Hectares) 2270 3830 – – – 6100

Area Currently Occupied by Mining Exploitation 2100 6390 2700 5950 – 17,140

FIGURE 27.4 Exploitation, building of spoil heap, and geological factors (substrate) are the key factors for biological reclamation in lignite mining.

The principle of the protection of natural ecosystems demands that spoil heaps should take up as little land as possible. Such sites usually take the form similar to a truncated cone with slopes of an average steepness of about 1:4. Safety considerations (stability, etc.), play a role in the shape of a spoil heap, hence the relative lack of freedom when it comes to their shape, especially in the case of large sites (Bełchatów, Turoszów spoil heaps). In the Polish lignite mining fields, the postmining sites (spoil heaps and opencast excavations) are mainly made up of:   • in Turoszów lignite field of Tertiary kaolinitic loams (80%), which significant carbon content and subquantities of gravel, sand, and quaternary clays; • in Konin lignite field of Quaternary clays and sand and Tertiary sands and Poznan loams; • in Bełchatów lignite field of Quaternary sands, silts, and clays and Tertiary sands and loam.  

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A general assessment of the discussed site deposit abundance in primary nutrients for plants (P, K, Ca, Mg) allows to arrange lignite mining spoils heaps in the following order (from the most fertile for the poorest): Konin, Adamów, Turów, Belchatów, and Łęknica (Krzaklewski, 1988). The simplified assessment above should be supplemented with phytosociological research results (Krzaklewski and Pietrzykowski, 2007). For example, on the fertile deposits found in the overburden of Konin,Turek district deposits, potentially good agricultural soils may emerge (according to the Polish Valuation Classification of Class IIIb and IVa, i.e., arable soils of good and average quality, where following appropriate agricultural treatments and with favorable weather conditions, good yields of wheat, sugar beet, and red clover may be obtained) (Bender, 1995). In the case of afforestation, fertile habitats of deciduous and mixed forests are potentially predicted (according to the Polish forest typology system represented by the symbols Lśw and LMśw) (Krzaklewski, 1988). This condition, however, can only be achieved by selective, possibly targeted management of overburden rocks (Bender, 1995). The situation in Turoszów spoil heaps is different as the degree of reclamation difficulty is significantly higher because of greater acidity and density of rock overburden, especially tertiary loams with high-carbon content, which have poor aeration and little water available for plants. In Bełchatów spoil heap, the northern part of the plateau is made up mainly of Quaternary silt, which may in the future give rise to fertile habitats similar to mixed forests. However, on the slopes there is a mosaic of sandy–clay, azonal sands with high-carbon content, which are also toxic, and their habitats predicted as mixed forests prevail (Pietrzykowski et al., 2010). In lignite mining, the highest degree of reclaim difficulty is to be found on the spoil heaps of the former Przyjaźń Narodów mine in Łęknica. These spoil heaps similarly to a vast area in the adjacent region of Lower Lusatian Region on the German side are made of infertile, phytotoxic Miocene sands with high carbon and sulfur content (pH < 3.0 in H2O), susceptible to water and wind erosion. These areas, both on the Polish and German side of the border, were reclaimed to forest in the 1970s (Krzaklewski and Pietrzykowski, 2001). The basic reclamation procedure was primarily liming and intensive fertilization. Currently in the over 20-year-old pine monocultures a significant problem with conifer root rot (Heterobasidion annosum) has been observed in these sites, particularly with pH above 6.5 (Knoche and Ertle, 2010). On the slopes of Poland’s largest external spoil heaps (2200 ha in Turów and 1500 ha in Bełchatów), the following series of treatments were carried out as follows: neutralization of excessively acidic sediments, sowing of grass and legumine vegetation seed mixtures using the traditional method and aviohydroseeding (hydroseeding by airplane), multispecies forestation, and crop tending. To protect the slopes from erosion and to initiate soil-forming processes rapidly, the hydroseeding and avio-hydroseeding method was used among other things. It consists of dropping for an aircraft of an appropriate quantity and quality of fermented hydrated sludge (approx. 30 t ha−1) mixed with a selected amount of herbaceous plant seeds (grasses and legumes). After a series of tests conducted from 1984, in 1987 this method was implemented and applied in Belchatów on an area of about 700 ha and in Turów on approx. 800 ha. Currently hydroseeding is used most frequently in the first phase of herbaceous vegetation introduction. Thanks to years of experience, the basic objectives were achieved on these spoil heaps: antierosion protection, soil formation process initiation, and esthetic and protective properties (Krzaklewski, 1988) (Fig. 27.5).

27.4.3 FILLING SAND MINING Coal mining in Upper Silesia partially utilizes hydraulic filling. The annual consumption of sand in the 1970s and 1980s was about 25 million m3, which resulted in about 200 ha of land taken up by mining

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503

FIGURE 27.5 Hydroseeding and biological stabilization with grasses used in the first phase of revegetation (Szczerców overburden spoil heap slopes by Bełchatów Lignite Mining).

per year. Currently, sand consumption for filling purposes has dropped considerably, but there is still high demand for this raw material for construction and road works. Of a total of 12,000 ha occupied by this branch of mining, a total of about 8600 ha has been reclaimed including 3500 ha to water bodies(Dzierżno Duże, Szczakowa, Pogoria II and III, Rogoźnik, Pławniowice, Dziećkowice, Chechło ponds), about 4500 ha were forested, and about 500 ha were converted to farming land or to special use. The opencast excavation floors and slopes are mainly made up of sandy deposits including loose coarse sands. The opencast excavations have different depths but they average between about 5 and 25 m, and the slope is varied from about 1:3 to 1:2. The difficulty of biological reclamation in the case of afforestation is conditioned by the depth at which groundwater occurs, fertility and substrate abundance in nutrients available for plants. Taking the above factors into consideration, the following habitats were distinguished: oligotrophic, mesotrophic, and eutrophic, and taking hydrological relations into account also sites where water occurs at a depth of below 1 m, from 1 m to 40 cm and above 40 cm (Pietrzykowski and Krzaklewski, 2009). Biological reclamation methods appropriate for afforestation were applied to the distinguished site categories. In the 1960s and 1970s, the biggest Polish Sand Mine, Szczakowa, commissioned a biological reclaim method for opencast floors. It was developed by the Academy of Mining and Metallurgy in Krakow and the Institute of Environmental Engineering of Polish Academy of Sciences in Zabrze, and it included obtaining most favorable hydrological conditions (groundwater at a depth of approx. 80 cm) with simultaneous improvement of infertile soils by mineral fertilization and legume crops (especially lupine) with green manure (Pietrzykowski et al., 2017) (Fig. 27.6). Currently, reclamation of sand opencast excavations and forecasting forest habitats on land planned for afforestation is based on the results of phytosociological, soil, and hydrological studies and includes the demarcation of site categories ranging from dry coniferous forests to wet coniferous forest habitats (Pietrzykowski and Krzaklewski, 2009). At the same time, the possibility of raising the fertility and

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FIGURE 27.6 Improvement of infertile soils by mineral fertilization and legume crops (Yellow lupine) with green manuring (Szczakowa sand pit excavation, Upper Silesia, Poland).

humidity of a habitat group is taken into account in case of more fertile groundwater and clay substrates. Reclaim procedures with the aim of afforestation are determined for the site categories. This includes mineral fertilization of afforestation carried as basic (start-up) and complementary (in the spring of the second and third year of seedling growth) fertilization in doses of 150 kg ha−1 of triple granular superphosphate (46% P2O5), 100 kg ha−1 of N in form of calcium ammonium nitrate (25% N), and 100 kg ha−1 potassium salt (60% K) twice. One-off fertilization is also recommended with slowacting fertilizer introduced, e.g., in the form of tablets in the vicinity of the tree root systems. Such a fertilization method does not stimulate excessive growth of herbaceous vegetation competitors, but the tablet has to be introduced at a depth of at least 5–10 cm. In the afforestation of sandpits the main species in poorer habitats are the following: the Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), the silver birch (Betula pendula) with an admixture of the black alder (Alnus glutinosa), and formerly also the gray alder (Alnus incana), and the sessile and common oak (Quercus petraea), and formerly the red oak (Quercus rubra), the wild cherry (Padus avium), the mountain ash (Sorbus aucuparia). In better quality habitats with soils with a higher proportion of clays, the European larch (Larix decidua), the English oak (Quercus robur), and the sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) are introduced in groups or in clumps apart from an admixture of the black alder (Pietrzykowski and Krzaklewski, 2009). As part of technical reclamation it is recommended to introduce some altitude differences and small water bodies as an element differentiating and enriching the emerging ecosystem. In 1997, the mine Szczakowa in Upper Silesia was the first in Poland to introduce on an industrial scale a reclamation method of old abandoned opencast excavations, which can be described as a method with the use of communities from succession (Pietrzykowski and Krzaklewski, 2009). In this method, plant communities from succession (self-sown) are incorporated into the forest ecosystem recreated as part of the reclamation process (Fig. 27.7).

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505

FIGURE 27.7 Reclaimed and afforested area of sand filing mine excavation—plant communities from succession (self-sown) are incorporated into the forest ecosystem recreated as part of the reclamation process.

It is an original method, which gives good ecological and economic results, especially compared with the previously used methods of “total” reclamation in which prior to the reclamation treatments communities from succession were removed. As already mentioned, filling sand mining takes up a significant acreage of mining excavations reclaimed to water bodies. Numerous reservoirs play farming, recreational, and retention functions, but issues concerning the setting up of aquatic ecosystems considerably exceed the scope of this study.

27.4.4 SULFUR MINING Sulfur mining takes up around 5000 ha of mainly agricultural and forest land. Firstly, sulfur was mined using the opencast method, and since the 1970s borehole mining has also been used. The opencast method has led among other things to the appearance of geomechanical transformations similar to those in lignite opencast mining such as external and internal spoil heaps as well as discarded hollows (Piaseczno and Machów mines in the vicinity of the town of Tarnobrzeg). The spoil heaps were mainly made up of Tertiary Krakowiec loams, which are dominant in Machów mine spoil heap (880 ha). The same deposits along with sands and clays form a mosaic on an approx. 120 ha site of the former Piaseczno mine spoil heap (Ziemnicki, 1980; Gołda, 2005). The relief of this latter site built before the relevant legislation came into force did not meet the requirements in this regard, whereas in Machów spoil heap, which was built later, they were met. Biological reclamation was more difficult in Machów as despite high potential productivity of clay sediments, which the heap is made up of, they have very unfavorable physical properties (air–water ratios), resulting from the extensive soil firmness and faulty structure. Agricultural reclaim treatments applied on the top and the shelves of Machów spoil heap included appropriate crop rotation with several years of alfalfa cultivation, whereas the slopes were

506

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FIGURE 27.8 Area after sulfur mining by bore holes Frasch method with high degree of chemical and surface disturbing—prior to reclamation and revegetation.

afforested by introducing carefully selected tree species. Herbaceous plants were not introduced with the use of vegetation from succession (Krzaklewski, 1993). When Jeziórko, Grzybów, and Osiek sulfur mines from the vicinity of the town of Tarnobrzeg started applying the Frasch process to extract the mineral in the 1970s, this produced large transformation and significant degradation of the natural environment in the form of overlapping chemical, geomechanical, and hydrological transformations on an area of approx. 3000 ha. The former sulfur extraction sites displayed a considerable degree of reclamation difficulty (Fig. 27.8). The sites were reclaimed to forest and agricultural use and as water bodies (Likus-Cieślik et al., 2017). Based on laboratory and field experiments, various methods of reclamation were proposed, including (Gołda, 2005):   • a neutralization method using alkaline substances for areas with slightly disturbed hydrological relations, possible to use on the outskirts of mining fields (applied in Grzybów and Jeziórko mines); • a neutralization method combined with regulation of hydrological conditions through basic and detailed drainage used for the fields of Grzybów Mine; • a relevelling method using postflotation waste lime from Machów for significantly transformed mining fields of Jeziórko mine also contaminated with sulfur; • a neutralization–fertilization method using humus horizons removed from the mining fields used in both of these mines (Fig. 27.9).   Chemical transformations occurring around the former production wells because of leaking of elemental sulfur and highly mineralized waters to the land surface pose a big problem for reclamation. Areas located at a distance from the production wells display a lower degree of contamination. However, significant geochemical (mainly in the form of land subsidence) and hydrological transformations

27.4  A REVIEW OF RECLAMATION PRACTICE IN THE MAIN BRANCHES

507

FIGURE 27.9 Reclamation and afforestation of sulfur mining areas (Jeziórko former Sulfur Mining currently administrated by and Nowa Dęba Forest Inspectorate).

(including inflow) occur there. Therefore, a suitable selection of afforestation species composition in these areas is not an easy task. The silver birch (B. pendula Roth) has the largest share in afforestation species composition with almost 60% of the area, and it is followed by the Scots pine (P. sylvestris L.) with 30% of the area. The remaining species, mainly the European larch, the sessile, common and red oak, the black locust, and the aspen occupy a total of about 10% of the area. Mainly coniferous habitats are forecast for the analyzed sites, as they grow on poor sandy soils, often with disturbed mineral ratios. So far, about 1200 ha have been handed over to forests administered by the State Forest National Forest Holding, a part of the site was reclaimed to meadowland and to water bodies (Likus-Cieślik et al., 2017).

27.4.5 COPPER ORE, ZINC, AND LEAD MINING Nonferrous metal industry, i.e., copper, zinc, and lead produces a large amount of waste. Low metal content in the mined ore means that waste from the ore enrichment process constitutes 80%–90% of the total amount of processed material. The mining of these ores results in geomechanical, hydrological, and chemical transformations. Postmining geomechanically transformed sites may be divided as follows: postmining areas (spoil heaps), postprocessing areas (sedimentation ponds, flotation ponds), and metallurgical waste heaps. The spoil heaps are made of barren rock mined in the form of dolomite, marl limestone, and various materials from the preparatory work. Approximately 98% of the rock mined in such facilities finds its way to mine and metallurgical spoil heaps and to sedimentation ponds at various stages of mining and preparation processes. Flotation ponds constitute a significant share of mine lands in Poland, and they occupy an area of a total of about 2600 ha. Although the biological reclamation of barren rock heaps is not a big problem, the situation looks different in the case of waste in flotation ponds (Fig. 27.10). According to the cited classification by (Krzaklewski, 1993), based on the rate of succession overgrowth, flotation ponds are considered group

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FIGURE 27.10 Partly successful revegetation on the slopes of zinc and lead ores tilings (Bukowno, Olkusz, Southern Poland).

I of postindustrial wasteland (which do not overgrow). Factors that hinder the introduction of vegetation are as follows: poor physical properties of waste, shortage of air and water available for plants, high pH, excess amounts of Pb, Zn, and Cu compounds, high susceptibility to wind erosion, and almost complete lack of available phosphorus, potassium, and nitrogen. As a result of years of experience (Strzyszcz, 1980; Krzaklewski and Pietrzykowski, 2002), biological restoration methods have been developed for such sites. Methods for the introduction of vegetation directly on sediments following the flotation of copper ore included the use of appropriately selected extensive mineral fertilization (especially with phosphorus) (Krzaklewski, 1984). The introduction of turf vegetation according to such methods in sedimentation ponds following the flotation of lead and zinc ores did not produce the same positive effects as in the case of waste from processing copper ore (Strzyszcz, 1980; Krzaklewski and Pietrzykowski, 2002). The use of high doses of phosphoric fertilizer was based on the assumption that the solubility of heavy metal salts in water should be reduced to minimize the negative effects of heavy metal contamination (Krzaklewski and Pietrzykowski, 2002). However, in conditions of extremely high heavy metal concentrations like in the case of a sedimentation pond following the flotation of zinc and lead ores at ZGH Bolesław in Bukowno, the introduced plants did not survive the growing season. Layering of horizons proved effective and possible to use for biological reclaim in these conditions: sediment sealing horizon in the form of hydrosilicates and about a dozen centimeter thick horizon of mineral soil, which had been appropriately fertilized and sown with a special blend of turf vegetation (Krzaklewski and Pietrzykowski, 2002). By contrast, in the Copper Basin, biological reclamation of waste deposited in Lubin and Polkowice spoils heaps is relatively easy. However, Rudno spoils heaps are much more difficult to reclaim biologically because of frequent excessive salinity, which makes their biological stabilization extremely hard. Simple methods of biological stabilization were developed and implemented for sedimentation ponds in the so-called old copper basin where the conditions for reclamation were not so extremely

27.4  A REVIEW OF RECLAMATION PRACTICE IN THE MAIN BRANCHES

509

unfavorable (e.g., sedimentation pond Konrad) (Krzaklewski, 1984). In the case Gilów pond, sandveined soil humus from Obora sand mine and locally avio-hydroseeding were used to fertilize the site. A full range of biological reclamation treatments on the largest ponds will take place, when they are no longer in operation. In the case of the largest operating sedimentation pond (1400 ha) called Żelazny Most, this will happen only after the termination of copper ore mining. Reclamation problems of these facilities are constantly the subject of studies conducted by various scientific institutions in Poland.

27.4.6 POWER PLANT COMBUSTION WASTE LANDFILLS It is estimated that industrial power plant combustion waste landfills in Poland take up an area of about 4 thousand ha and contain over a billion tonnes of ash and slag from power and heating industries. It is estimated that about 10–12 million tonnes of combustion waste are deposited there annually. The main method of preventing the erosion of ash landfills is technical and biological stabilization of their surface. Sealing covers made of bitumen emulsion, bitumen, and other substances are used in the course of technical stabilization. These methods, however, are very expensive. Biological stabilization of ash landfills consists mainly of planting tuft or trees on them after earlier application of a sealing layer in the form of a fertile mineral deposit. Combustion waste at landfills typically displays many unfavorable properties for plant growth, including high susceptibility to compaction, poor air-to-water ratios, excessively alkaline pH, variable EC, and an almost complete absence of nitrogen and deficiency of other basic nutrients for plants. The results of the research conducted on biological reclamation of combustion waste landfills have shown that afforestation is possible (Greszta and Morawski, 1972). According to recent literature (Krzaklewski et al., 2012), the alder (Alnus sp.) is particularly useful in biological stabilization of combustion waste landfills as it is a phytoamelioration forecrop for other tree species that may be introduced at a later stage. The patented method is based on an initial stabilization by hydroseeding with sewage sludge mixed with grass seedling and start-up NPK mineral fertilization. Subsequently alders are introduced without the use of a sealing layer of mineral soil, directly to planting holes with substrate amendment of fine lignite. However, it is important to prepare the substrate on the surface of landfills intended for reclamation by controlled depositing of combustion waste to produce favorable physico-chemical technogenic substrate in the top horizon of the landfill. Research lasting about a dozen years conducted according to the method described permits a conclusion that the use of the alder enables biological reclamation by creating initial biota to ameliorate the technogenic ash substrate through afforestation and the introduction of the target species (Krzaklewski et al., 2012; Pietrzykowski et al., 2015).

27.4.7 ROCK RAW MATERIAL MINING Rock raw material industry generates limited surface transformations, mainly geomechanical (opencast excavations, spoil heaps) but rather dispersed. These areas are classified as moderately difficult and difficult to reclaim and only rarely as easy to reclaim. A big role in the degree of reclaim difficulty is played by the relief of the site, the type of rocks forming the top horizons, and thus their susceptibility to weathering. Biological and technical–biological methods are used in their reclamation, and they are mainly reclaimed to forest, for agricultural use, as water bodies and for special purposes (recreation grounds, landfills, etc.) (Krzaklewski, 1990).

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Opencast excavations are reclaimed as water bodies for fish farming and for recreational purposes. There are few examples of well-reclaimed and developed former rock mining sites. They include: Kądzielnia and Wietrznia in Kielce, St. Anne’s Mountain in the Opole region, and Bednarski Park in Kraków. Nevertheless, reclamation is rare for leisure purposes such as water bodies for various purposes, sedimentation ponds for polluted waters, landfills, facilities, which are particularly burdensome for the environment, etc (Krzaklewski, 1988).

27.4.8 EXAMPLE OF RECLAIMED MINE SOIL CHARACTERISTICS ON SELECTED POSTMINE SITES IN POLAND Research conducted by Pietrzykowski (2014) on selected afforested postmine sites in Poland shown high differentiation in soil characteristics. Study sites were arranged on: the spoil heap following opencast lignite mining at KWB Belchatow; on the carboniferous coal refuse spoil heap at the Smolnica coal mine; on sand mining pit at the Szczakowa mine; and on the spoil heap of rock overburden at the Piaseczno sulfur mine (Table 27.3). The spoil heap of open strip lignite mine Belchatow is located in central Poland (N 51 13.196; E 19 25.569) and ranges in height from 120 to 180 m and covers an area of 1480 ha. Climate in the area is transitional and changeable because of frequent interactions between polar maritime and continental air masses. The average annual temperature is 7.6°C, and total precipitation is 580 mm. The site is located mostly on a mixture of Quaternary loamy and gravelly sands, which occasionally contains loam, bouldery clay, and clay (B-Ql). There are also areas of Tertiary sandy strata with inclusions of loam and clay, which commonly contain carbonates and sulphides in varying amounts (B-Ts). These sands oxidize to be extremely acidic (pH < 4.5), frequently displaying phytotoxic properties. The Smolnica main coal overburden spoil heap is located in southern Poland’s Upper Silesia Region (N 50 15.095 E 18 31.284). The site consists of a 60 ha spoil heap, with a flat hilltop and gradual slopes. The average Table 27.3  Basic Soil Characteristics of Selected Postmine Site in Poland Mine Site and Parent Rock Substrate

Corse Fragments (%)

Silt Sized Fraction (0.05–0.002 mm) (%)

Clay Sized Fraction (<0.002 mm) (%)

pH KCl

Corg (g kg−1)

CEC (cmolc kg−1)

B-Ql B-Ts Sm-CF Sz-Qls Sz-Qs P-QsTc P-Qs

0 0 70 ± 80 0 ± 5 0 ± 5 0 ± 10 0 ± 5

30 ± 8 17 ± 19 33 ± 2 12 ± 8 2 ± 1 8 ± 4 3 ± 1

5 ± 4 6 ± 2 25 ± 2 5 ± 3 2 ± 1 7 ± 2 3 ± 1

7.5 ± 0.1 4.7 ± 1.5 3.6 ± 0.4 4.6 ± 0.2 6.2 ± 1.6 6.4 ± 0.8 6.3 ± 0.9

27.2 ± 4.2 3.3 ± 1.0 10.6 ± 2.7 2.1 ± 0.3 1.3 ± 0.9 10.2 ± 8.0 2.7 ± 1.5

27.7 ± 4.2 5.5 ± 0.9 21.3 ± 3.0 3.1 ± 0.5 2.2 ± 1.1 11.8 ± 7.5 3.7 ± 1.4

Notes: mean values for 50–110 cm deep of mine soil on selected parent rock substrate; 30 ± 8—sample mean and standard deviation, for coarse fragment range of % content in volume of soil; B-Ql—site and substrate variants abbreviations—see description in the text. CEC, cation exchangeable capacity. Based on publication by Pietrzykowski M: Soil quality index as a tool for pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) monoculture conversion planning on afforested, reclaimed mine land, J For Res 25:63–74, 2014.   

References

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annual temperature is 7.7°C; the annual range is 21°C; the length of the growing period is 220 days; and the average precipitation is 702 mm. In these carboniferous dumps, primarily waste rocks from coal processing and cleaning are disposed of, i.e., mostly carbonaceous shales and clay stones (85%–95% of waste rocks) with addition (5%–15% waste rocks) mudstones and sandstones. Study plots (Sm-CF) were set up on one part of the spoil in pine stands. The Szczakowa opencast sand mine is also located in the Upper Silesia Region (Fig. 27.1; N50 14.394 E19 25.140). The deposits are fluvioglacial Quaternary sediments deposited into a pre-Quaternary landscape depression. The study sites were located on Quaternary sands with loam (Sz-Qls) and also on coarser textures nutrient poor Quaternary sands (Sz-Qs). The area has an average annual air temperature of 8°C and 700 mm precipitation. A ­disturbed area of over 2700 ha with an excavated depth of 5–25 m has resulted from mining over time. The spoil heap at the Piaseczno opencast sulfur mine is located in southern Poland (N 50 33.622 E 21 34.185). The site is conical in shape with an area of 120 ha and a height of up to 40 m. The average annual temperature is 7.0°C; the annual range is 21°C; the length of the growing season is 212 days; and average precipitation is 650 mm. The spoil heap mainly consists of Tertiary Krakowiec formation clays, Quaternary sands, and loamy sands, and the mixture of these sediments. The research plots were located on soils reforested with Scots pine on a mixture of Quaternary sands and Tertiary clays (P-QsTc) and Quaternary sands (P-Qs). The properties of the studied reclaimed mine soil in Poland by Pietrzykowski (2014) were strongly varied. The mean percentage of silt-sized fraction (0.05 − 0.002 mm) ranged from 2.0% to 30.0%, and clay sized was (<0.002 mm) between 3.0% and 25.0%. Organic carbon (Corg) contents in soil substrate in mineral layer varied between 1.3, respectively, in poor sandy soils developed on Quaternary fluvioglacial sediments (Sz-Qs) to 27.2 g·kg−1 on soils of Bełchatów mine with lignite content (B-Ts). Soil pH in KCl ranged from 3.6 on carboniferous rocks (Sm-CF) to 7.5 on quaternary loamy sediments (B-Ql). The samples also differed considerably in terms of their cation exchange properties. Cation exchangeable capacity from 2.2 (Sz-Qs) to 27.7 cmol(c) kg−1 (B-Ql) (Table 27.3). In conclusion, we assume that reclaimed mine soils developing on postmining sites are made up of very diverse lithological deposits that exhibit considerable variability. The main factor that affected the variability of the mine soils developed on differ parent rock substrate was soil texture. However, the prediction of plant habitat based solely on lithology and genesis of sediments made of parent rock, in the case of developing mine soils, provides results that are too general. Often the predicted potential fertility of weathering rock overburden based on an analogy with the parent rocks of natural soils (e.g., shale, sandstone) may be erroneously interpreted and ultimately give overestimated final results of habitat classification.

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