Abstract
The Żelazny Most dam, the biggest industrial dump in Europe, which serves as a recipient of copper ores flotation tailings, has been operating for 25 years. The area of the dam is 14 km2, volume 315x 106 m3, and final volume up to 700 x I06 m3. The water from the dam seeps into an underlying phreatic porous aquifer. The aquifer is quite heterogeneous, ofvariable thickness from I up to 20 m, including layers ofhigh transmissivity up to 300 m2/d. Several plumes flow into the aquifer mainly containing chlorides and sulfates. The largest plume extends 900 m downstream of the dam. A two-dimensional regional model for the vicinity ofthe tailings dam serves as a basic tool for environmental impact assessment, prediction of groundwater pollution and methods of groundwater protection. The model is permanently fitted and calibrated every 4--5 years according to hydrogeological, hydrological and geophysical monitoring. Technologies for groundwater pollution control were developed. The idea is to limit hydraulic outflow from the dam. Series ofwells were designed around the dam to modify hydraulic patterns. New water divides arc going to develop and restrict movements of pollutants.
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