QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF SURFACE AND GROUNDWATER IN THE VICINITY OF “ELESHNITSA” TAILING POND, BULGARIA

Abstract

The Eleshnitsa uranium mine near Razlog, SW Bulgaria was in operation from 1955 to 1992 and the uranium ore was enriched at the milling plant near the mine. At this time a tailing pond was exploited since 1969. Its construction took place by blocking the natural depression of the Vulche dere creek by a dam. This tailing pond was an object of an EU-sponsored rehabilitation project that started in 2003 and lasted for about 2 years. As a result, a purification station collects all the drainage water downstream from the tailing pond and treats it for possible uranium pollution. The present study considers the variation in the chemical components concentrations in the surface water of Vulche dere creek downstream from the tailing pond, and in depth in groundwater of the Quaternary and the Neogene aquifers. The analysis of the results allows to evaluate the influence of the tailing pond and shows an evident hydraulic interaction between surface water and groundwater. It is compared also the influence of the tributaries of Vulche dere creek on the chemical composition of water during the dry and wet season.

Keywords

• eleshnitsa
• tailing pond
• water quality
• surface-groundwater interaction