The impact of tailings dam spills and clean-up operations on sediment and water quality in river systems: the Rı́os Agrio–Guadiamar, Aznalcóllar, Spain

Groundwater contamination evolution in the Guadiamar and Agrio aquifers after the Aznalcóllar spill: assessment and environmental implications

“…Also, the existence of wells flooded by the spill where after repeated pumping and addition of neutralizing materials remain acidic indicates that an important volume of aquifer surrounding the wells was Although there are no data on the groundwater quality before 1998, the high levels of toxic elements found in the waters of the Agrio and Guadiamar rivers prior to the failure of the dam (Cabrera et al 1984;Cabrera et al 1987;Arambarri et al 1996), even higher than those found after the spill (Olías et al 2006), clearly show the existence of this previous contamination. This is also noted in other studies conducted on the soils (Kraus and Wiegand 2006;Simón et al 2009) and the river sediments (Martin et al 2000;Hudson-Edwards et al 2003;Turner et al 2008). …”

“…Many of them have evidenced a rapid initial recovery along with the existence of important residual contamination levels (Alvarez-Ayuso et al 2008), especially in the area closest to the mine, both in soils (Galán et al 2002;Kraus and Wiegand 2006;Simón et al 2009), river sediments (e.g., Hudson-Edwards et al 2003;Turner et al 2008), and vegetation or fauna (e.g., Sánchez López et al 2004;Madejón et al 2006;Márquez-Ferrando et al 2009). In general, for all groups of living beings, the degree of damage has been parallel to that of contaminant levels, with still higher concentrations than in noncontaminated areas (Garrido 2008).…”

A Geochemical and Geophysical Characterization of Sulfide Mine Ponds at the Iberian Pyrite Belt (Spain)

“…In fact, an environmental disaster occurr ed in the SW of Spain in 1998, when the tailings dam of the Los Frailes Pb-Zn mine at Azna1c6llar (Seville; Fig. 1) was ruptured, and -2 x 10 6 m 3 of heavy metal-bearing sludge and -4x 10 6 m 3 of acidic waters were released (Aguilar et al 2004(Aguilar et al , 2007Galim et al 2002;Hudson-Edwards et al 2003).…”

13.6 Impacts of Mining on Geomorphic Systems

“…Where extensive, mine tailings may introduce geochemical changes (Lewin et al, 1977;Knox, 1987;Leenaers, 1989;Macklin, 1996;Lecce and Pavlowsky, 1997;Marcus et al, 2001;Hudson-Edwards et al, 2003;Macklin et al, 2006) as well as increased sediment loadings and morphological effects to fluvial systems downstream (Gilbert, 1917;Lewin et al, 1983). Study of the long-term fate of mine tailings as contaminants in fluvial systems involves an integrated geomorphological-geochemical approach.…”