Environmental pollution by wastewater from brown coal processing ¬ a remediation case study in Germany
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3846/16486897.2013.808640Abstract
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, wastewaterHow to Cite
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Copyright (c) 2014 The Author(s). Published by Vilnius Gediminas Technical University.
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Copyright (c) 2014 The Author(s). Published by Vilnius Gediminas Technical University.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.