Environmental pollution by wastewater from brown coal processing ¬ a remediation case study in Germany

    Arndt Wiessner Info
    Jochen A. Müller Info
    Peter Kuschk Info
    Uwe Kappelmeyer Info
    Matthias Kästner Info
    Yong-Jun Liu Info
    Ulrich Stottmeister Info
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3846/16486897.2013.808640

Abstract

The large scale of the contamination by the former carbo-chemical industry in Germany requires new and often interdisciplinary approaches for performing an economically sustainable remediation. For example, a highly toxic and dark-colored phenolic wastewater from a lignite pyrolysis factory was filled into a former open-cast pit, forming a large wastewater disposal pond. This caused an extensive environmental pollution, calling for an ecologically and economically acceptable strategy for remediation. Laboratory-scale investigations and pilot-scale tests were carried out. The result was the development of a strategy for an implementation of full-scale enhanced in situ natural attenuation on the basis of separate habitats in a meromictic pond. Long-term monitoring of the chemical and biological dynamics of the pond demonstrates the metamorphosis of a former highly polluted industrial waste deposition into a nature-integrated ecosystem with reduced danger for the environment, and confirmed the strategy for the chosen remediation management.

Keywords:

disposal pond, environmental pollution, lignite pyrolysis, remediation strategy, wastewater

How to Cite

Wiessner, A., Müller, J. A., Kuschk, P., Kappelmeyer, U., Kästner, M., Liu, Y.-J., & Stottmeister, U. (2014). Environmental pollution by wastewater from brown coal processing ¬ a remediation case study in Germany. Journal of Environmental Engineering and Landscape Management, 22(1), 71-83. https://doi.org/10.3846/16486897.2013.808640

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March 18, 2014
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2014-03-18

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Review article

How to Cite

Wiessner, A., Müller, J. A., Kuschk, P., Kappelmeyer, U., Kästner, M., Liu, Y.-J., & Stottmeister, U. (2014). Environmental pollution by wastewater from brown coal processing ¬ a remediation case study in Germany. Journal of Environmental Engineering and Landscape Management, 22(1), 71-83. https://doi.org/10.3846/16486897.2013.808640

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