Spoil to Soil: Mine Site Rehabilitation and Revegetation

N.S. Bolan, M.B. Kirkham, Y.S. Ok, N.S. Bolan, M.B. Kirkham, Y.S. Ok

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781498767613
• eBook ISBN: 9781351247283
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Ecology
• Index: Biological Sciences

Spoil to Soil: Mine Site Rehabilitation and Revegetation presents both fundamental and practical aspects of remediation and revegetation of mine sites. Through three major themes, it examines characterization of mine site spoils; remediation of chemical, physical and biological constraints of mine site spoils, including post mine-site land-use practices; and revegetation of remediated mine site spoils. Each theme includes chapters featuring case studies involving mine sites around the world. The final section focuses specifically on case studies with successful mine site rehabilitation.

The book provides a narrative of how inert spoil can be converted to live soil. Instructive illustrations show mine sites before and after rehabilitation. The purpose of this book is to provide students, scientists, and professional personnel in the mining industry sensible, science-based information needed to rehabilitate sustainably areas disturbed by mining activities.

This book is suitable for undergraduate and graduate students majoring in environmental, earth, and soil sciences; environmental and soil scientists; and mine site environmental engineers and regulators.

Section IV

Mine Site Revegetation Potential

12
Phytotechnologies for Mine Site Rehabilitation

Ramesh Thangavel, Rajasekar Karunanithi, Hasintha Wijesekara, Yubo Yan, Balaji Seshadri, and N.S. Bolan

CONTENTS

12.1Introduction

12.2Phytotechnologies

12.3Processes Involved in Phytotechnologies

12.3.1Soil Cover

12.3.2Hydraulic Control

12.3.3Contaminant Removal

12.3.4Rhizosphere Modification

12.4Summary and Conclusions

Acknowledgments

References

12.1Introduction

Soils are a prime and very important natural resource, and soil fertility is a major concern for sustainable agriculture and economic development of any country. In recent decades, problems of contaminated land sites, water bodies, groundwater, and air worldwide have increased manyfold due to anthropogenic activities. Mining is one of the anthropogenic activities that cause pollution problems in, around, and outside of mining areas. It results in the mobilization of metals and organic and inorganic substances into the environment, which causes pollution of air, soils, sediments, vegetation, and surface and groundwater. It also increases the morbidity and mortality of plant and animal species and results in the loss of visual, aesthetic characteristics of landscapes (Bolan et al. 2003; Pavli et al. 2015).

Due to geochemical changes in mine site soils, the physical, chemical, and biological activities of the soils are changed. Soils of mine sites are often considered as drastically disturbed. They are nutritionally and microbiologically reduced habitats that have reduced crop productivity and food quality, and they need restoration for revegetation (Singh et al. 2004). The shortage of organic matter at mine sites results in poor aggregate stability and structure (Castillejo and Castello 2010). Low water-holding capacity, erosion of tailings by wind and water, crusting, and cracking are some of the adverse effects that result from mine site soil structure (Hossner and Hons 1992). Mine site soil also contains hazardous contaminants such as heavy metals, which may enter groundwater and food chains. Thus, poor soil structure, contaminant toxicity, and low microbial activity are major constraints for revegetation and restoration of mine sites.

12.2Phytotechnologies

Remediation of mine site soils is necessary to minimize their impact on ecosystems. This is a challenging job with respect to cost and technical complexity. Worldwide, different physical, chemical, and biological approaches have been used for the rehabilitation of mine sites to restore ecosystem structure and function, thereby improving the ecological integrity and sustainability of the system. It includes removal, isolation, incineration, solidification/stabilization, vitrification, thermal treatment, solvent extraction, and chemical oxidation. However, these methods have disadvantages like high cost, intensive labor, irreversible changes in soil properties, and disturbance of native soil microflora. Chemical methods also involve the movement of contaminated materials to treatment sites, thus adding risks of secondary contamination. Therefore, less environmentally disruptive and more cost-effec...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Halftitle Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Foreword
• Preface
• Editors
• Contributors
• SECTION I Mine Site Characterization
• SECTION II Mine Site Rehabilitation Practices
• SECTION III Post Mine Site Land-Use Practices
• SECTION IV Mine Site Revegetation Potential
• SECTION V Case Studies of Successful Mine Site Rehabilitation
• Index