The mining industry induces major influences on the environment, which appears in every stage of the technological processes. Besides the solid wastes, the mining industry also generates gaseous and liquid wastes, in significant amounts. Opencast mining deeply affects all the environmental factors (soil, water, air) and involves high expenses for affected surface land restoration in order to put it back in the economical circuit. The mining mass from waste dumps consists in a heterogenous mixture of rocks with different strengths, granulometry and physical and mechanical properties. This leads to the growing of vegetation in these areas only after their coverage with a vegetal soil layer and their reintroducing in the agricultural circuit. If the waste  dumps are storing wastes issued from rocks conraining metalic sulphides, the rainfalls are generating chemical and bacterian solubilisation of these sulphides and the resulting solutions are tricklering in the ground and underground waters, affecting the local hidrographic network. As a consequence of mining operations, the vegetation is also affected through deforestation, landslides and dust settling on leafs, resulting a dramatic decrease of the agricultural production in the region. When the mineral deposit is mined out by underground workings, the stress and strain state in the rock massif is modified, generating the surrounding rock stability decrease and their displacement on a certain distance, according to their loosening capacity and their capacity of filling the resulting cave. Sometimes, the movement of the surrounding rocks can affect the surface ground, producing its degradation and that of the facilities built up in the influence area. For a significantly long period, the coal will maintain his role of safe energetically fuel, for many countries being the only available fuel to provide the growing electricity demand. Coal-based thermo-electrical power plants can affect the environment, even by impacting the ecological balance in their proximity, through their complex influences exerted on all the environmental factors (water, air, soil, flora and fauna), so that the energy-generating sector is considered a major pollution source. Mintia thermo-electric plant is the third electricity generating capacity in Romania, with an installed capacity of 1260 MW and a yearly output exceeding 4 million MWh. For thermal and electric power generation, it yearly consumes 2.3-3 million tons of coal, over 500 t fuel oil and 8000 m3 natural gas. As it concerns the Paroşeni power plant, his airborne emissions are lower. SO2 quantity released is of 8,800 t/year, the NOx is of 1,400 t/year, the airborne dust reaching only 1,400 t/year.

pollution; atmosphere; soil; mono-industrial areas

Presentation: oral