Natural attenuation and environmental quality of the mining rivers at the Carboniferous Area of El Bierzo (León)

V. Rodríguez Gómez; L. Vadillo Fernández; M. Lacal Guzmán; E.  Alberruche del Campo; T. Herrero Barrero; A. de la Losa Román

doi:10.21701/bolgeomin.121.1.008

Authors

V. Rodríguez Gómez Área de investigación sobre impacto ambiental y uso sostenible de los recursos. Departamento de Investigación en Recursos Geológicos. IGME
L. Vadillo Fernández Área de investigación sobre impacto ambiental y uso sostenible de los recursos. Departamento de Investigación en Recursos Geológicos. IGME
M. Lacal Guzmán Área de investigación sobre impacto ambiental y uso sostenible de los recursos. Departamento de Investigación en Recursos Geológicos. IGME
E. Alberruche del Campo Área de investigación sobre impacto ambiental y uso sostenible de los recursos. Departamento de Investigación en Recursos Geológicos. IGME
T. Herrero Barrero Área de investigación sobre impacto ambiental y uso sostenible de los recursos. Departamento de Investigación en Recursos Geológicos. IGME
A. de la Losa Román Área de Investigación en Procesos Activos y Calidad Ambiental. Departamento de Investigación y Prospectiva Geocientífica. IGME

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21701/bolgeomin.121.1.008

Keywords:

Acid mine drainage (AMD), Acid rock drainage (ARD), biotic indexes, benthic macroinvertebrates

Abstract

The study tackles the environmental impact on aquatic ecosystems caused by coal mining activity in the Carboniferous Area of El Bierzo. This survey is based on the methodology of the USGS (Geological Survey of the United States of America) Assessment of Metal Bioavailability in a Watershed Affected by Abandoned Mine Lands. The application of this methodology to the mining area of El Bierzo, with a declining coal mining that entails the closure of many underground mines and the dismantling of the coal washing plants, has allowed to assess, in time and distance to contamination sources, the impact, environmental quality, and the attenuation and natural recovery processes of the aquatic ecosystems, once the mines are closed.

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