Milieuministers bereiken politiek akkoord over nieuwe regels voor verwerking mijnafval (en)

The European Commission welcomes the political agreement reached today by the Environment Council on a proposed Directive to minimise negative environmental effects of waste from the extractive industries (mining and quarrying). This waste can constitute a serious and long-lasting threat to the environment and human health if not properly managed. EU-wide rules shall aim to prevent water and soil pollution from the deposition of waste into heaps or ponds, the two common storage methods. Particular emphasis is put on the long-term stability of such waste facilities so that consequences from possible accidents are minimised. Together with the revised Seveso II Directive on the control of major industrial accidents, and a reference document on Best Available Techniques, the future Directive will ensure sound management of extractive waste throughout the EU.

"The text agreed by the Council offers a good framework to tackle pollution problems posed by mining and quarrying waste - not only during the operation of waste facilities, but also after their closure", said Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström. "In particular, it will help prevent serious accidents such as in Spain in 1998 and at the gold mine in Baia Mare in Romania. I myself was at Baia Mare and saw the dreadful effects that the cyanide-polluted water had on fish and plants in the affected rivers and on nearby wildlife."

Tackling pollution and stability problems

Waste from the extractive industries involves materials such as topsoil, overburden, waste rock and tailings, discarded during the prospecting, extraction and treatment of mineral resources. With an annual volume of more than 400 million tonnes, it represents a large waste stream in the EU, estimated at nearly 30% of total waste generated each year.

Environmental impacts from the management of such waste range from physical effects on ecosystems (e.g. smothering of riverbeds), to pervasive acid drainage and leaching of heavy metals and other dangerous substances used for mineral processing. The collapse of facilities hosting such waste (e.g. waste heaps, tailings ponds or dams) can have widespread devastating effects on people and the environment, as demonstrated by several accidents that have occurred in Europe, such as in Aberfan, Wales, in 1966 and Stava, Italy, in 1985 (both with serious casualties) and in Aznalcollar, Spain, in 1998 and Baia Mare, Romania, in 2000 (both with extensive damage on freshwater ecosystems and large socio-economic effects).

The text agreed by the Council maintains the general approach taken in Commission's proposal in that it covers the planning, licensing, operation, closure and after-care of waste facilities and provides for a major-accident policy for high-risk facilities. All extractive waste is now covered and classification of high-risk facilities may involve all types of waste. Inventories of closed facilities posing serious risks to environment and health will have to be drawn up. There are a few exemptions where Member States can, on a case-by-case basis, reduce certain requirements applying to certain waste fractions, but only if they can provide full justifications.

Background

The Commission submitted its proposal to the Council and the European Parliament on 3 June 2003. The European Parliament delivered its opinion at first reading on 31 March 2004. According to current progress on this file, the final adoption of the Directive is expected in the second half of 2005. The Directive would then enter into force before the end of 2005 and Member States will have two years to transpose it, i.e. by the end of 2007.
Further information is available at:

http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/environment/waste/mining/index.htm