Introduction

Shale gas is a type of fuel alternative to natural gas. It is extracted from deposits with low hydrocarbon saturation, located in shale sedimentary rocks of the earth's crust.

Some consider shale gas to be the gravedigger of the oil and gas sector of the Russian economy, while others consider it a grandiose scam on a planetary scale.

In terms of its physical properties, purified shale gas is fundamentally no different from traditional natural gas. However, the technology for its production and purification involves much higher costs compared to traditional gas.

Shale gas and oil are, roughly speaking, unfinished oil and gas. By using “fracking,” humans can extract fuel from the ground before it accumulates in normal deposits. Such gas and oil contain a huge amount of impurities, which not only increase the cost of production, but also complicate the processing process. That is, it is more expensive to compress and liquefy shale gas than extracted gas traditional methods. Shale rocks can contain from 30% to 70% methane. In addition, shale oil is highly explosive.

The profitability of field development is characterized by the EROEI indicator, which shows how much energy must be spent to obtain a unit of fuel. At the dawn of the oil age in the early 20th century, the EROEI for oil was 100:1. This meant that to produce one hundred barrels of oil, one barrel had to be burned. To date, the EROEI has dropped to 18:1.

All over the world, less and less profitable deposits are being developed. Previously, if oil did not gush out like a gusher, then no one was interested in such a field; now, more and more often, it is necessary to extract oil to the surface using pumps.

1. History

The first commercial gas well in shale formations was drilled in the United States in 1821 by William Hart in Fredonia, New York, who is considered the “father of natural gas” in the United States. The initiators of large-scale shale gas production in the United States are George Mitchell and Tom Ward

Large-scale industrial production of shale gas was started by Devon Energy in the USA in the early 2000s, which in the Barnett field (English) Russian. in Texas in 2002, pioneered the use of a combination of horizontal drilling and multi-stage hydraulic fracturing. Thanks to the sharp increase in its production, called the “gas revolution” in the media, in 2009 the United States became the world leader in gas production (745.3 billion cubic meters), with more than 40% coming from unconventional sources (coalbed methane and shale gas).

In the first half of 2010, the world's largest fuel companies spent $21 billion on assets related to shale gas production. At the time, some commentators suggested that the shale gas frenzy, called the shale revolution, was the result of an advertising campaign inspired by a number of energy companies that had invested heavily in shale gas projects and needed an influx of additional funds. Be that as it may, after the appearance of shale gas on the world market, gas prices began to fall.

By early 2012, natural gas prices in the United States had fallen to levels well below the cost of shale gas production, causing the largest player in the shale gas market, Chesapeake Energy, to announce an 8% cut in production and 70% in drilling capital investment. %. In the first half of 2012, gas in the United States, where there was overproduction, was cheaper than in Russia, which has the world's largest proven gas reserves. Low prices forced leading gas producing companies to reduce production, after which gas prices went up. By mid-2012, a number of large companies began to experience financial difficulties, and Chesapeake Energy was on the verge of bankruptcy.

2. Problems with shale gas production in the 70-80s and factors of industrial growth and field development in the USA in the 90s

The oil and gas industry is considered one of the most capital-intensive. High competition forces active players in the market to invest huge sums in research work, and large investment companies to maintain a staff of analysts specializing in forecasts related to oil and gas. It would seem that everything here is so well studied that we have almost no chance of missing anything even remotely significant. However, none of the analysts was able to predict the sharp increase in shale gas production in America - a real economic and technological phenomenon that in 2009 made the United States a leader in the volume of gas produced, radically changed the US gas supply policy, and turned the domestic gas market from scarce into self-sufficient and can seriously affect the balance of power in the global energy sector.

It is interesting that the phenomenon of industrial production of shale gas can only be called a technological revolution or a scientific breakthrough only with a very big stretch: scientists have known about gas deposits in shale since the beginning of the 19th century; the first commercial well in shale formations was drilled in the USA in 1821, long before the first in the world of oil drilling, and the technologies used today have been tested by specialists for several decades. However, until recently industrial development giant shale gas reserves were considered economically unfeasible.

The main difference and main difficulty in shale gas production is the low permeability of gas-containing shale formations (crushed sand that has turned into petrified clay): hydrocarbon practically does not seep through dense and very hard rock, so the flow rate of a traditional vertical well is very small and field development becomes economical unprofitable.

In the 70s of the last century, geological exploration identified four huge shale structures in the United States containing enormous gas reserves (Barnett, Haynesville, Fayetteville and Marcellus), but industrial production was considered unprofitable, and research into the creation of appropriate technologies was interrupted after the fall in oil prices in the 80s.

Natural gas in reservoir conditions (conditions of occurrence in the bowels of the earth) is in gaseous state- in the form of separate accumulations (gas deposits) or in the form of a gas cap of oil and gas fields, or in a dissolved state in oil or water

The idea of extracting gas from shale formations in the United States was returned only in the 90s against the backdrop of growing gas consumption and rising energy prices. Instead of numerous unprofitable vertical wells, the researchers used so-called horizontal drilling: when approaching a gas-bearing formation, the drill deviates from the vertical by 90 degrees and runs hundreds of meters along the formation, increasing the contact zone with the rock. Most often, wellbore deflection is achieved by using a flexible drill string or special assemblies that provide deflection force on the bit and asymmetric destruction of the bottom.

To increase the productivity of a well, the technology of multiple hydraulic fracturing is used: a mixture of water, sand and special chemicals is pumped into a horizontal well under high (up to 70 MPa, that is, approximately 700 atmospheres) pressure, which ruptures the formation, destroys dense rock and partitions of gas pockets and unites gas reserves. Water pressure causes cracks to appear, and grains of sand, which are driven into these cracks by the fluid flow, interfere with the subsequent “collapse” of the rock and make the shale formation permeable to gas.

Commercial development of shale gas in the United States has become profitable due to several additional factors. The first is the availability of state-of-the-art equipment, materials with the highest wear resistance and technologies that allow very precise positioning of hydraulic fracturing shafts and fractures. Such technologies have become available even to small and medium-sized gas production companies after an innovation boom associated with rising energy prices and increased demand (and, therefore, prices) for equipment for the oil and gas industry.

The second factor is the relative sparse population of the areas adjacent to shale gas deposits: producers can drill numerous wells in huge areas without continuous coordination with the authorities of nearby settlements.

The third, most important factor is open access to the developed US gas pipeline system. This access is regulated by law, and even small and medium-sized companies that produce gas can gain access to the pipeline under transparent conditions and bring gas to the end consumer at a reasonable price.

3. Shale gas production technology and environmental impact

Shale gas extraction involves horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. A horizontal well is drilled through a layer of gas-bearing shale. Tens of thousands of cubic meters of water, sand and chemicals are then pumped into the well under pressure. As a result of formation fracturing, gas flows through cracks into the well and further to the surface.

This technology causes enormous harm to the environment. Independent environmentalists estimate that the special drilling fluid contains 596 chemicals: corrosion inhibitors, thickeners, acids, biocides, shale control inhibitors, gelling agents. Each drilling requires up to 26 thousand cubic meters of solution. Purpose of some chemicals:

hydrochloric acid helps dissolve minerals;

ethylene glycol fights the appearance of deposits on pipe walls;

isopropyl alcohol is used to increase the viscosity of the liquid;

glutaraldehyde fights corrosion;

light oil fractions are used to minimize friction;

guar gum increases the viscosity of the solution;

ammonium peroxodisulfate prevents the decomposition of guar gum;

formamide prevents corrosion;

boric acid maintains fluid viscosity at high temperatures;

lemon acid used to prevent metal deposition

potassium chloride prevents chemical reactions between soil and liquid;

sodium or potassium carbonate is used to maintain acid balance.

Tens of tons of solution from hundreds of chemicals are mixed with groundwater and cause a wide range of unpredictable negative consequences. At the same time, different oil companies use different solution compositions. The danger is posed not only by the solution itself, but also by the compounds that rise from the ground as a result of hydraulic fracturing. In mining areas, there is a pestilence of animals, birds, fish, and boiling streams with methane. Pets get sick, lose hair, and die. Toxic products end up in drinking water and air. Americans who are unfortunate enough to live near drilling rigs experience headaches, loss of consciousness, neuropathy, asthma, poisoning, cancer and many other diseases.

Poisoned drinking water becomes undrinkable and can range in color from normal to black. In the United States, a new hobby has appeared to set fire to drinking water flowing from the tap.

This is the exception rather than the rule. Most people are really scared in this situation. Natural gas is odorless. The smell we smell comes from odorants that are specially mixed to detect leaks. The prospect of creating a spark in a house full of methane makes it necessary to shut off the water supply in such a situation. Drilling new water wells is becoming dangerous. You can run into methane, which is looking for a way to the surface after hydraulic fracturing. For example, this happened to this farmer who decided to make himself a new well instead of a poisoned one. The methane fountain flowed for three days. According to experts, 84 thousand cubic meters of gas were released into the atmosphere.

American oil and gas companies apply the following approximate scheme of actions to the local population.

The first step: “Independent” ecologists make an examination, according to which drinking water Everything is fine. This is where it all ends unless victims sue.

Second step: The court may oblige the oil company to supply residents with imported drinking water for life, or to supply treatment equipment. As practice shows, cleaning equipment does not always save. For example, ethylene glycol passes through filters.

Third step: Oil companies pay compensation to victims. The amounts of compensation are measured in tens of thousands of dollars.

Fourth step: A confidentiality agreement must be signed with the victims who received compensation so that the truth does not come out.

Not all of the toxic solution mixes with groundwater. Approximately half is “recycled” by oil companies. Chemicals are poured into pits, and fountains are turned on to increase the rate of evaporation.

4. Shale gas reserves around the world

An important question: does the massive industrial production of shale gas in the United States threaten the economic security of Russia? Yes, the hype around shale gas has changed the balance of forces in the gas market, but this mainly concerns spot, that is, exchange, momentary gas prices. The main players in this market are manufacturers and suppliers of liquefied gas, while large Russian manufacturers gravitate towards the long-term contract market, which should not lose stability in the near future.

According to the information and consulting company IHS CERA, by 2018, global shale gas production could reach 180 billion cubic meters per year.

So far established and reliable system so-called “pipeline pricing”, according to which Gazprom operates (giant reserves of traditional gas - transport system- a large consumer) is preferable for Western Europe to the risky and expensive development of its own shale gas deposits. But it is the cost of shale gas production in Europe (its reserves are estimated at 12-15 trillion cubic meters) that will determine European gas prices in the next 10-15 years

5. Problems in shale oil and gas production

Shale oil and gas production faces a number of challenges that may begin to have a significant impact on the industry in the very near future.

Firstly, production is profitable only if both gas and oil are produced simultaneously. That is, the extraction of shale gas alone is too expensive. It is easier to extract it from the ocean using Japanese technology.

Secondly, if we take into account the cost of gas in US domestic markets, we can conclude that shale mining is subsidized. It must be remembered that in other countries, shale gas production will be even less profitable than in the United States.

Thirdly, the name of Dick Cheney, the former vice president of the United States, flashes too often against the background of all the hysteria about shale gas. Dick Cheney was at the origins of all American wars of the first decade of the 21st century in the Middle East, which led to rising energy prices. This leads some experts to believe that the two processes were closely linked.

Fourthly, the production of shale gas and oil can cause very serious environmental problems in the production region. The impact can be exerted not only on groundwater, but also on seismic activity. A considerable number of countries and even US states have imposed a moratorium on shale oil and gas production on their territory. In April 2014, an American family from Texas won the first case in US history regarding the negative consequences of shale gas production using hydraulic fracturing. The family will receive $2.92 million from the oil company Aruba Petroleum as compensation for contamination of their property (including a well with water that was rendered undrinkable) and damage to health. In October 2014, groundwater throughout California was found to be contaminated by the release of billions of gallons of hazardous waste from shale gas extraction, according to a letter state officials sent to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Due to possible environmental damage, shale gas production is banned in France and Bulgaria. The extraction of shale raw materials is also prohibited or suspended in Germany, the Netherlands, and a number of US states.

The profitability of industrial shale gas production is clearly tied to the economy of the region where it is produced. Shale gas deposits have been discovered not only in North America, but also in Europe (including Eastern), Australia, India, China. However, industrial development of these deposits may be difficult due to dense population (India, China), lack of transport infrastructure (Australia) and strict environmental safety regulations (Europe). There are explored shale deposits in Russia, the largest of which is Leningradskoye - part of the large Baltic basin, but the cost of gas development significantly exceeds the cost of producing “traditional” gas.

6. Forecasts

It is too early to know how big an impact shale gas and oil development could have. According to the most optimistic estimates, it will slightly lower oil and gas prices - to the level of zero profitability of shale gas production. According to other estimates, the development of shale gas, which is supported by subsidies, will soon end completely.

In 2014, a scandal erupted in California - it turned out that the reserves of shale oil in the Monterey field were seriously overestimated, and that actual reserves were about 25 times lower than previously predicted. This led to a 39% decline in the overall estimate of US oil reserves. The incident could trigger a massive revaluation of shale reserves around the world.

In September 2014, the Japanese company Sumitomo was forced to completely shut down a large-scale shale oil project in Texas, with record losses amounting to $1.6 billion. “The task of extracting oil and gas turned out to be very difficult,” company representatives say.

The shale deposits from which shale gas can be extracted are very large and are located in a number of countries: Australia, India, China, Canada.

China plans to produce 6.5 billion cubic meters of shale gas in 2015. The country's total natural gas production will increase by 6% from current levels. By 2020, China plans to reach production levels ranging from 60 billion to 100 billion cubic meters of shale gas annually. In 2010, Ukraine issued shale gas exploration licenses to Exxon Mobil and Shell.

In May 2012, the winners of the competition for the development of Yuzovskaya (Donetsk region) and Olesskaya (Lviv region) became known. gas areas. They were Shell and Chevron, respectively. It is expected that industrial production in these areas will begin in 2018-2019. On October 25, 2012, Shell began drilling the first exploration well for compacted sandstone gas in the Kharkov region. An agreement between Shell and Nadra Yuzovskaya on the sharing of production from shale gas production at the Yuzovsky site in the Kharkov and Donetsk regions was signed on January 24, 2013, in Davos (Switzerland) with the participation of the President of Ukraine.

Almost immediately after this, actions and pickets by environmentalists, communists and a number of other activists began in the Kharkov and Donetsk regions, directed against the development of shale gas and, in particular, against the provision of such an opportunity to foreign companies. The rector of the Azov Technical University, Professor Vyacheslav Voloshin, head of the department of labor protection and environmental protection, does not share their radical sentiments, pointing out that mining can be carried out without damaging the environment, but additional research is needed on the proposed mining technology.

Conclusion

shale gas deposit ecology

In this essay, we looked at the extraction methods, history and environmental impact of shale gas. Shale gas is alternative view fuel. This energy resource combines the quality of fossil fuels and a renewable source and is found throughout the world, thus, almost any energy-dependent country can provide itself with this energy resource. However, its extraction is associated with major environmental problems and disasters. Personally, I believe that shale gas extraction is too dangerous a method of fuel extraction today. And so far, at our level of technological progress, man is unable to maintain the balance of the ecosystem by extracting this type of fuel so radical method.

List of sources used

1. Shale gas [Electronic resource]. - Access mode: #"justify">. Shale gas - the revolution did not take place [Electronic resource]. - Access mode: #"justify">. Shale gas [Electronic resource]. Access mode: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shale_gas#cite_note-72

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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education

ST. PETERSBURG STATE MINING UNIVERSITY

Department of Geoecology

ABSTRACT

on the topic “Impact open method mining impact on the environment"

St. Petersburg 2016

Introduction
1. Impact of mining on the environment
2. Environmental pollution during open-pit mining
3. Protecting the environment from the negative impact of open-pit mining
4. Reclamation of lands disturbed by open-pit mining
4.1 Mining reclamation
4.2 Biological remediation
Conclusion
Bibliography

Introduction

mountain surrounding pollution reclamation

Mining production is technologically interconnected with the processes of human impact on the environment in order to provide raw materials and energy resources to various areas of economic activity.

Open pit mining is a field of mining science and production, which includes a set of methods, methods and means of human activity for the design, construction, operation and reconstruction of mining enterprises, pits, embankments and other objects of various functional purposes.

During open-pit mining, a significant amount of pollutants are released into the air, with inorganic dust being the main pollutant. The spread of this substance leads to the gradual degradation of green spaces, a decrease in their productivity and loss of sustainability. Under the influence of substances “alien” to the body, the structure of cells is disrupted, the life expectancy of organisms is reduced, and the aging process is accelerated. For humans, dust particles that can penetrate into the periphery of the lung pose a particular danger.

Every year, the technogenic impact on the natural environment increases, since mineral resources have to be extracted in increasingly difficult conditions - from greater depths, in difficult occurrence conditions, with a low content of valuable components.

The most important aspect of the problem of interaction between mining production and the environment in modern conditions is the increasingly increasing Feedback, that is, the influence of environmental conditions on the choice of solutions in the design, construction of mining enterprises and their operation.

1. Impactsmining production on the environment

All methods of mining are characterized by an impact on the biosphere, affecting almost all its elements: water and air basins, land, subsoil, flora and fauna.

This impact can be both direct (direct) and indirect, resulting from the first. The size of the indirect impact zone significantly exceeds the size of the direct impact localization zone, and, as a rule, the indirect impact zone includes not only the element of the biosphere that is directly affected, but also other elements.

In the process of mining production, spaces are formed and rapidly increase, disturbed by mining workings, rock dumps and processing waste and representing barren surfaces, the negative impact of which extends to the surrounding areas.

Due to the drainage of the deposit and the discharge of drainage and waste water (mineral processing waste) into surface reservoirs and watercourses, the hydrological conditions in the deposit area, the quality of underground and surface waters. The atmosphere is polluted by dust and gas organized and unorganized emissions and emissions from various sources, including mine workings, dumps, processing shops and factories. As a result of the complex impact on these elements of the biosphere, the conditions for the growth of plants, animal habitats, and human life are significantly deteriorating. The subsoil, being the object and operational basis of mining, is subject to the greatest impact. Since subsoil belongs to elements of the biosphere that do not have the ability to naturally renew in the foreseeable future, their protection should include ensuring scientifically sound and economically justified completeness and complexity of use.

The impact of mining on the biosphere is manifested in various sectors of the national economy and is of great social and economic importance. Thus, the indirect impact on land associated with changes in the state and regime of groundwater, the deposition of dust and chemical compounds from emissions into the atmosphere, as well as products of wind and water erosion, leads to a deterioration in the quality of land in the zone of influence of mining. This is manifested in the oppression and destruction of natural vegetation, migration and reduction in the number of wild animals, and a decrease in the productivity of agriculture and forestry, livestock farming and fisheries.

On modern stage development of domestic and foreign science and technology, solid mineral deposits are developed mainly in three ways: open (physical and technical open geotechnology), underground (physical and technical underground geotechnology) and through wells (physical and chemical geotechnology). In the future, underwater mining of minerals from the bottom of seas and oceans has significant prospects.

2. Environmental pollution during open-pit mining

At enterprises with open-pit mining, the sources of the greatest environmental risk are emissions and discharges from technological processes in quarries: from processes associated with ore beneficiation; from the surface of production waste.

The processes from the impact of mining operations on the environment can be engineering, environmental and social. They depend on the degree of disturbance and pollution of soils, land, subsoil, ground and surface waters, and air, resulting in economic and social damage that changes production efficiency and requires examination for environmental safety production activities mining enterprise.

During open-pit mining, geomechanical, hydrogeological and aerodynamic disturbances occur. Geomechanical disturbances are the result of the direct impact of technological processes on the natural environment. Hydrogeological disturbances are associated with changes in the location, regime and dynamics of surface, ground and underground waters as a result of geomechanical disturbances. Aerodynamic disturbances arise as a result of the construction of high dumps and deep excavations and are also closely related to geomechanical disturbances.

Sources of geomechanical disturbances include:

Drilling of opening and preparatory workings;

Mining;

Dumping.

The main quantitative characteristics of the sources of geomechanical disturbances are:

Speed of progress of the work front;

Length or area of the work front (length and width of the quarry);

Thickness of the disturbed soil layer;

Pit depth;

Height of dumps;

Volumes of extracted minerals and associated natural resources (daily, annual).

Sources of hydrogeological disturbances include:

Drainage of the land allotment area;

Mining.

Sources of aerodynamic disturbances include:

Creation of rock dumps;

Creation of large cavities and depressions in the relief.

During the influence of open-pit mining, various components of the environment are polluted. natural environment(lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere). Lithospheric pollution is characterized by contamination of the earth's surface with solid substances, dust, pollution by oil products, as well as acidification and deoxidation of soils various solutions(liquid substances). Hydrospheric pollution is caused by the penetration of various substances of both organic and inorganic origin into surface and underground waters. Atmospheric pollutants include gaseous, vaporous, liquid and solid substances. The area of air pollution can change its direction in accordance with the direction of the wind, forming zones of its influence and impact. The configuration of air pollution areas depends on the parameters of the sources of pollutant emissions (point, linear, area), meteorological conditions of the atmosphere and a number of other factors.

Sources of land, soil, and subsoil pollution include:

Storage of bulk and soluble overburden directly on soils;

Discharge of wastewater to land;

Solid waste storage;

Disposal of production waste in the subsoil;

Dusting of rock dumps of tailings dumps.

Sources of groundwater and surface water pollution include:

Discharge of domestic and industrial wastewater from the quarry;

Washout of pollutants from industrial sites by precipitation;

Fallout of contaminated precipitation and atmospheric dust.

Sources of air pollution include:

Crushing and averaging useful components during ore processing;

Burning and dusting of rock dumps;

Loading and transport work;

Drilling and blasting operations;

Release of gases from the exploded rock mass;

Dust formation during dumping.

The main forms of disturbance and pollution of the natural environment during open-pit mining of mineral deposits are presented in Table 1.

Table 1. Main forms of disturbances and pollution during open-pit mining

3. Behindschenvironmental protection from the negative impact of open-pit mining

Air protection. During open-pit mining, large amounts of mineral dust and gases are released into the air, which spread over considerable distances, polluting the air to unacceptable levels. The greatest dust formation occurs during massive explosions, when drilling wells without dust collection, and when loading dry rock mass with excavators. The main, permanent sources of dust in quarries with vehicles are roads, which account for up to 70-80 ° of all dust released in the quarry. During massive explosions, 100-200 tons of dust and thousands of cubic meters of harmful gases are released simultaneously to a height of 20-300 m, a significant part of which spreads beyond the quarries up to several kilometers. In windy, dry weather, a large amount of dust is blown away from the working surfaces of quarries and especially dumps.

Pollution of the quarry atmosphere with gases occurs not only as a result of explosions, but also during the release of gases from rocks, especially during spontaneous combustion and oxidation of ores. as well as as a result of the operation of machines with internal combustion engines.

The main direction of combating dust and gases in a quarry is to prevent their formation and suppress it near the source. For example, the use of dust collectors on drilling roller rigs reduces dust emissions from 2000 to 35 mg/s. Coating crushed stone roads with dust-binding substances reduces dust emissions by 80-90%. The period for removing dust from roads when using water is 1.5 hours; sulfate-alcohol stillage - 120 hours and liquid bitumen - 160-330 hours.

Reducing dust emissions from rock dumps is achieved through their reclamation, coating with dust-binding solutions and emulsions, and hydroseeding of perennial grasses.

Dust on the surface of dumps and sludge storage facilities causes significant damage to the environment.

To secure the surfaces of sludge storage areas and dumps, aqueous solutions of polymers and polyacrylamide are used with a flow rate of 6-8 l/m2 or bitumen emulsion with a concentration of 25-30% with a flow rate of 1.2-1.5 l/m2. The application of fixatives can be carried out using watering machines or asphalt trucks. Spraying from helicopters may also be used. The normal service life of fixatives is 1 year.

The presence of endogenous fires, i.e. fires from spontaneous combustion in quarries and waste rock dumps is one of the causes of dust and gas pollution in the atmosphere. Endogenous fires occur in coal pillars, coal piles, and waste rock dumps to which coal is mixed. The spontaneous combustion of coal is facilitated by the layer-by-layer mining of thick seams and the use of loosened rock mass as a base for railway tracks.

To suppress and prevent fires, water is injected into the coal massif, the slopes of coal benches and dump surfaces are flooded, they are covered with a clay crust, and coal mining technology is changed in order to reduce the time of contact of exposed coal seams with air.

Suppression of dust and gas emissions arising from massive explosions is carried out by fan or hydromonitor creation of a water-air cloud. Reducing the emission of gases and dust is achieved by reducing the number of wells blasted, using hydrogels for driving down well charges, and also when carrying out explosions during rain or snowfall. The intensity of dust emission during the operation of excavators in the process of unloading, transshipment, and crushing rocks is reduced due to moistening of the rock mass and irrigation using solutions of surfactants.

Protection of water resources. Wastewater reduction and treatment are key measures to protect water resources. Mining operations, as a rule, are associated with the discharge of large amounts of contaminated water obtained during the drainage of the deposit, as a result of drainage from the quarry, drainage of dumps and sludge storage facilities. currents of processing plants.

Groundwater, coming into contact with rocks, acquires increased acidity and increases the content of heavy metal ions zinc, lead and various salts. Precipitation, passing through the body of the dump, acquire the properties of mine water.

To purify contaminated water, clarification, neutralization and disinfection are used. Water clarification is achieved by settling or filtration. Settlement is carried out in water settling tanks various designs, filtration - using filters filled with quartz sand, crushed gravel, coke breeze. If contaminated water contains fine and colloidal particles that do not settle even in a still flow and are not retained in filters, then coagulants are added to it, converting small particles into relatively large flakes.

Reducing the amount of wastewater is achieved in technological processes through the use of recycled water supply and more advanced equipment and enrichment technology. and when draining the deposit - due to the isolation of the quarry field or part of it from aquifers by creating impervious curtains. To do this, narrow deep trenches (cracks) are made around the isolated area, which are filled with waterproof material.

In modern practice, anti-seepage trenches or barrage slots with a width of 0.3-1.2 m and a depth of up to 100 m are used, which are filled with non-hardening clay-soil mixtures or hardening cement-based materials. Synthetic films are often used.

In the sides of quarries, represented by fractured, highly porous or loose permeable rocks, it is possible to create injectable anti-lithranion curtains using closely spaced wells into which grouting cement or silicate solutions are injected. This is one of the most economical ways to contain groundwater.

Another way to reduce the scale of violation of the hydrological regime is to drain fields with reinjection of water. The quarry is protected from the influx of groundwater by rows of water-reducing wells; behind them, in the direction from the boundaries of the quarry field, rows of absorption wells are installed. Due to the emergence of water circulation (pumping from water-reducing wells - discharge into absorption wells - filtration and repeated pumping from water-reducing wells), the influx of water from the surrounding basin is reduced or even eliminated, which leads to the general preservation of the hydrological regime in the adjacent territory. In this case, an important condition is strict adherence to the balance of pumping and injection of water, since the creation of vacuum in absorption wells can cause an influx of water from deep horizons and disrupt the hydrological regime of the area.

Protection of land resources. In open-pit mining, the rocks covering the mineral deposits are, as a rule, tertiary and quaternary sediments, in the upper part of which there is a soil layer with a thickness of 0.1 to 1.8 m. Below the soil layer there are underlying loams, sandy loams, clays, sands and other loose rocks. The thickness of the underlying rocks can reach tens of meters. According to their suitability for biological development, they are divided into three groups - potentially fertile, indifferent and toxic, i.e., respectively suitable, unsuitable and unsuitable for plant growth.

Soil is a special natural formation, the most important property of which is fertility. Soils are formed on the products of weathering of rocks, most often loose Quaternary sediments. Long lasting, for hundreds and thousands of years. the interaction of rocks with plant and living organisms, the biological activity of microorganisms and animals create different types soil

The soil layer is characterized by a complex of agrochemicals. physical, mechanical and biological indicators: content of humus (humus) and nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium), pH acidity. content of water-soluble sodium, magnesium and chloride sulfates, density, moisture capacity, water permeability, content of fractions less than 0.01 mm. number of microorganisms.

Soil quality in different natural areas is significantly different. For example, dark chestnut soils of dry steppes have a humus content of 250 t/ha. and the thickness of the humus layer is 30 cm. The podzolic soil of the forest zone has a thickness of the humus layer of only 5-15 cm.

There are two layers of soil - fertile and semi-fertile or potentially fertile. A layer is called fertile if it has certain characteristics and, above all, a humus content of at least 1-2%. The thickness of this layer, depending on the type of soil, ranges from 20 to 120 cm. For example, in soddy-podzolic soils the thickness of the fertile layer is 20 cm, and in chernozem soils it is 60-120 cm. The soils of the fertile layer, as a rule, are removed separately and used in agricultural purposes for the formation and improvement of arable land.

The potentially fertile layer is the lower part of the soil cover with a humus content of 0.5-1%. It is used to create land for haymaking and afforestation. and also as a substratum for fertile soils. Its thickness is in the range of 20-50 cm.

Soils are a practically non-renewable, valuable product. Full withdrawal soil during mining and its subsequent use, including application to reclaimed land, is the main factor in the rapid restoration of disturbed lands and localization of the negative impact of open-pit mining on the environment.

Work to remove the fertile layer is carried out with bulldozers. scrapers, graders and excavators. In some cases, hydraulic transport is used to deliver soil mass over long distances and lay it on the surface of the restored area.

The main indicator of soil removal technology is loss from incomplete excavation during transportation (1-1.2%), during storage and transshipment in temporary warehouses (0.8-1.5%), when applying it to the surface of a dump, when working in unfavorable conditions. climatic conditions, as a result of dilution and deterioration of the biological quality of the soil.

Removed fertile and semi-fertile soils are stored separately in piles for a long time (10-15 years or more) and are used as needed.

The most fertile humus soils, when stored in high stacks and over a long period of time, deteriorate their quality. The height of the stack should be no more than 5 m for fertile soils and no more than 10 m for semi-fertile ones. Warehouses should be on level, elevated, dry areas or have an effective drainage system. It is advisable to protect soil deposits from water and wind erosion by sowing with grasses.

Soil dilution most often occurs during the working of underlying rocks in the process of removing the soil layer, as well as when covering the surface of dumps with soil, in the case when they are not well planned and when their shrinkage has not completely finished.

4. Reclamation of lands disturbed by open-pit mining

Reclamation is a set of works aimed at restoring the productivity and value of land, as well as improving environmental conditions. Reclamation in quarries includes mining, land reclamation, agricultural and hydraulic engineering works.

As a result of reclamation work, lands suitable for agriculture and forestry, the organization of recreation areas, the construction of reservoirs for various purposes, and residential and industrial construction can be created.

Reclamation is carried out in two stages: the first - mining and the second - biological.

4 .1 Mining reclamation

Mining technical reclamation is a complex of mining operations carried out to prepare disturbed lands for use in various sectors of the national economy.

Mining-technical reclamation includes excavation, storage and storage of soils suitable for reclamation, preparation (planning, reclamation) of dumps, engineering preparation of restored land areas, application of soil to the surface of dumps and restored land plots, formation of the required configuration of slopes of dumps and mine workings, leveling of the banks of created reservoirs, work to restore the fertility of the moved soil, engineering, construction and hydraulic engineering work during the development of restored territories for construction and recreation areas and other various works.

Mining reclamation is carried out, as a rule, simultaneously with the development of the deposit, and work on its production is included in the general technological process. They are carried out by specialized organizations, at large enterprises in special workshops and areas.

In this regard, open-pit mining systems and their comprehensive mechanization, along with efficiency and safety, must be subject to certain requirements that ensure rational use of land:

Mining should be the least land-intensive, i.e. the consumption of land resources per unit of extracted mineral raw materials should be minimal;

During the exploitation of the deposit, the regime of land disturbance and restoration should be the most favorable. ensuring a minimum time gap between these processes;

The formation of mined-out space and overburden dumps must meet the requirements of reclamation in accordance with the accepted direction for the further use of land after its restoration.

Most unfavourable conditions for the reclamation of disturbed lands take place during the development of inclined and steep deposits using tufting mining systems. IN in this case Land reclamation should be understood as bringing external overburden dumps into a condition suitable for use in agriculture or forestry, and the mined-out space of a quarry (depth from 100 to 300-500 m) into a condition suitable for a fishery reservoir or workers’ recreation areas.

4 .2 Biological remediation

Biological reclamation is the implementation of a set of measures to restore and improve the structure of soils, increase their fertility, develop water bodies, create forests and green spaces.

Work on biological reclamation is closely related to work on mining technical reclamation and a significant part, especially the initial part, is carried out by mining enterprises (reclamation workshops). Only after experimental agricultural and other work has been carried out that has yielded positive results, the restored areas are assessed and transferred to agricultural, forestry and other organizations. Mining reclamation is subject to not only waste rock dumps, but also lands occupied during the period of operation by enterprises, quarries, industrial sites, various communications, and tailings dumps.

When developing horizontal fields, the largest share of reclamation is made up of internal dumps (70-80%), when developing steep fields - external dumps (30-40%). Reclamation of disturbed lands occupied by quarries and industrial sites during operation. roads, etc., aims not only to restore them, but also to create a landscape that meets the needs of the ecological balance of the environment. These works are aimed primarily at eliminating various mountain excavations, embankments, leveling areas and earthworks, etc. improvement of soils by covering them with a fertile layer.

In addition, it is necessary to carry out anti-erosion protective measures, various engineering, construction and hydraulic works to create drainage systems, reservoirs, recreation areas. The work also includes land reclamation and various agrotechnical works for the development of reclaimed lands. Mining-technical reclamation of dumps includes planning work on their leveling and smoothing of slopes, and then applying a fertile layer of soil.

The complexity and cost of reclamation largely depend on the shape of the dump and its structure. Therefore, long before reclamation work, when designing dumps and during the process of dumping, it is necessary to keep in mind the purpose of their reclamation.

The method of forming dumps must be selective, providing such a dump structure in which at the base of the dump there are rocky and toxic rocks, above indifferent ones, then potentially fertile ones. Layers of toxic rocks must be overlapped, and in some cases, underlain by layers of neutral clayey rocks, preventing contamination of the upper fertile soils and geochemical contamination of the base of the dump in the surrounding area.

The plan should not allow for the dismemberment of dumps. Preference should be given to concentrated dumps of large area and regular shape, which are better suited for further development. The relief over the entire area should be calm. If rocks are prone to spontaneous combustion or active oxidative processes, then work is necessary to prevent them.

To achieve good reclamation results, the processes of shrinkage of dumps and stabilization of their surface, which lasts for a period of time, are of great importance. different conditions from six months to 5 years.

Shrinkage of internal dumps of loose rocks, dumped by excavator or excavation-dump complexes, occurs most intensively during the first one and a half to two years and lasts longer, the greater the height of the dump.

Stabilization of external rock dumps is carried out faster, at the first stage - 1.5-2 months. However, in autumn-summer, shrinkage resumes, zones of fracturing and landslide phenomena appear. Therefore, the formation of the soil layer is carried out no earlier than after 10-12 months. Leveling work on the dump must ensure the creation of a surface relief of the dump that allows the use of agricultural machinery, ensures long-term stability of the slopes and prevents water erosion. The following types of layouts are used: solid, partial and terraced layout.

With continuous planning, the surface slope should be no more than 1-2° for agricultural crops and no more than 3-5° for afforestation.

Partial planning consists of cutting off the ridges of the dumps and creating areas 8-10 m wide, allowing for mechanized planting of forests.

Terraces 4-10 m wide with a transverse slope of 1-2° towards the dump are usually created on the sides of high dumps and are used for planting shrubs and forests. The height of the terraces is 8-10 m, the angle of repose is 15-20°. Leveling of dump slopes is carried out using bulldozers and excavators according to the “top to bottom” scheme.

In the process of mining technical reclamation, work is carried out not only to cover the restored areas with a layer fertile soil, but also to create a fertile layer through partial soil cultivation, phytomelioration, that is, cultivation of semi-fertile rocks by planting soil-improving plants and applying fertilizers.

Practice shows that on a number of dumps there is no need to apply a thick layer of soil, but you can limit yourself to self-overgrowth or minimal soiling in the form of a layer of soil 5-10 cm thick.

Quaternary loess-like loams and a number of other loose rocks significantly improve their fertile properties under the influence of cereals and legumes, fertilizers and other agrotechnical measures. After 6-8 years of soil-forming process, they can be considered fertile soils.

Conclusion

The production activities of the mining complex have a significant impact on the environment: tons of harmful substances are released into the atmosphere, cubic meters of polluted wastewater are dumped into water bodies, and a huge amount of solid waste is stored on the surface of the earth.

There is a need for widespread development of mining-ecological research aimed at developing and implementing monitoring of that part of the biosphere that is exposed to mining; principles and methodology for economic assessment of the effectiveness of measures to rational use mineral resources and environmental protection; techniques and technologies of low-waste, and subsequently - waste-free mining production.

Already now, in the world practice of open-pit mining, good results have been achieved and extensive experience in reclamation work has been accumulated. It can be especially noted that today reclamation has become part of important periods in the development of open-pit mining. During operation, it is an integral production element of stripping operations and at the end of mining operations - a decisive period guaranteeing reliable environmental protection.

Currently, the consequences of the negative impact of enterprises on the environment are compensated by payments that each of them makes for the harm caused to nature. The amount of payments is determined by the amount of harmful substances released and their hazard class.

Bibliography

1. Bugaeva G. G., Kogut A. V. Research Article. Environmental risk factors in the area of open-pit mining.

2. Derevyashkin I.V. Tutorial: Fundamentals of mining. Open pit mining. 2011

3. Kuznetsov V.S. Scientific work. Assessment of dust pollution during open-pit mining based on environmental risk. Scientific library of dissertations and abstracts. [Electronic resource]: http://www.dissercat.com

4. Melnikov N.V. A quick guide to surface mining. - M.: Nedra 1982

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What is the characteristics of the mining industry?

The mining industry is widely developed in the Russian Federation, as deposits of the main types of minerals are located on the territory of the country. These accumulations of mineral and organic formations located in the bowels of the earth are effectively used, ensuring human life and production.

All minerals can be divided into three groups:

hard, subdivided into: coal, ores, non-metallic materials, etc.;
liquid, the main representatives of this category are: fresh, mineral water and oil;
gaseous, which includes natural gas.

Depending on the purpose, the following types of minerals are extracted:

ore materials(iron, manganese, copper, nickel ores, bauxite, chromite and precious metals);
building materials(limestone, dolomite, clay, sand, marble, granite);
non-metallic resources(jasper, agate, garnet, corundum, diamonds, rock crystal);
mining chemical raw materials(apatites, phosphorites, table and potassium salts, sulfur, barite, bromine- and iodine-containing solutions;
fuel and energy materials(oil, gas, coal, peat, oil shale, uranium ores);
hydromineral raw materials(underground fresh and mineralized waters);
ocean mineral formations(ore-bearing veins, continental shelf strata and ferromanganese inclusions);
mineral resources of sea water.

The Russian mining industry accounts for a quarter of the world's gas production, 17% of the world's oil, 15% of coal, 14% of iron ore.

Mining industry enterprises have become the largest sources of environmental pollution. Substances released by the mining complex have a detrimental effect on the ecosystem. The problems of the negative impact of the mining and processing industries are very acute, as they affect all spheres of life.

How does the industry affect the earth's surface, air, water, flora and fauna?

The scale of development of the mining industry is amazing: when recalculating the volume of raw materials produced per inhabitant of the planet, the result is approximately 20 tons of resources. But only a tenth of this amount comes from final products, and the rest is waste. The development of the mining complex inevitably leads to negative consequences, the main of which are:

depletion of raw materials;
environmental pollution;
disruption of natural processes.

All this leads to serious environmental problems. You can look at individual examples to see how different types of mining industries affect the environment.

At mercury deposits, the landscape is disrupted and dumps are formed. This dissipates mercury, which is a toxic substance that has a detrimental effect on all living things. A similar problem arises in the development of antimony deposits. As a result of the work, accumulations of heavy metals remain, polluting the atmosphere.

When mining gold, technologies are used to separate the precious metal from mineral impurities, which are accompanied by the release of toxic components into the atmosphere. The presence of radioactive radiation is observed on the dumps of uranium ore deposits.

Why is coal mining dangerous?

deformation of the surface and coal-containing layers;
pollution of air, water and soil in the area where the quarry is located;
release of gas and dust when waste rocks are carried to the surface;
shallowing and disappearance of rivers;
flooding of abandoned quarries;
formation of depression funnels;
dehydration, salinization of the soil layer.

In the area located near the mine, anthropogenic forms (ravines, quarries, waste heaps, dumps) are created from raw material waste, which can extend for tens of kilometers. Neither trees nor other plants can grow on them. And the water with toxic substances flowing from the dumps harms all living things in large adjacent areas.

At rock salt deposits, halite waste is formed, which is transported by sediments into reservoirs that serve to supply residents of nearby settlements with drinking water. Near magnesite mining, a change in the acid-base balance of the soil occurs, leading to the death of vegetation. Change chemical composition soil leads to plant mutations - changes in color, ugliness, etc.

Agricultural land is also polluted. When transporting minerals, dust can fly over long distances and settle on the ground.

Over time, the earth's crust is depleted, reserves of raw materials decrease, and the content of minerals decreases. As a result, production volumes and the amount of waste increase. One way out of this situation is to create artificial analogues of natural materials.

Lithosphere protection

One of the methods to protect the earth's surface from the harmful effects of mining enterprises is land reclamation. The environmental problem can be partially solved by filling the resulting excavations with mining waste.

Since many rocks contain more than one type of minerals, it is necessary to optimize technologies by extracting and processing all components present in the ore. This approach will not only have positive influence on the state of the environment, but will also bring significant economic benefits.

How to save the environment?

At the present stage of development industrial technologies it is necessary to provide for environmental protection measures. The priority is the creation of low-waste or waste-free industries that can significantly reduce the harmful impact on the environment.

Activities to help solve the problem

When solving the problem of environmental protection, it is important to use complex measures: production, economic, scientific, technical, and social.

You can improve the environmental situation by:

more complete extraction of minerals from the subsoil;
industrial use of associated petroleum gas;
integrated use of all rock components;
measures for water purification during underground mining;
use of mine wastewater for technical purposes;
use of waste in other industries.

During the extraction and processing of mineral resources, it is necessary to use modern technologies, allowing to reduce emissions of harmful substances. Despite the cost of using advanced developments, the investment is justified by the improvement in the environmental situation.

E.I.Panfilov, prof., doctor of technical sciences, chief researcher at IPKON RAS

The steady growth of the population on the planet causes an increase in the consumption of natural resources, among which the leading role belongs to mineral resources. Russia has significant mineral reserves, the extraction of which generates more than half of the state budget revenue. Its planned reduction due to intensive innovative development of other industries in the next 10-15 years will not lead to a decrease in the scale and pace of development of the country's mineral resource base. At the same time, the extraction of solid minerals is accompanied by the extraction from the subsoil of millions of tons of rock mass, which is placed in the form of overburden and waste on the surface of the Earth, which entails extremely negative consequences not only for the environment and humans, but also for the subsoil itself.

The assessment of impacts on the subsoil is often identified or confused with the consequences of these impacts on the environment, including infrastructure and humans, especially when determining the damage that occurs and causes them. In reality, these processes have significant differences, although they are closely interrelated. For example, the subsidence of the surface at the potash deposit in Bereznyaki, which led to significant environmental, economic and social damage to the region and the country, was a consequence of the damage caused by technogenesis to the geological environment, i.e. We are dealing with essentially different phenomena. Since they can have, and are already having, a significant impact on all of our life activities, there is a need for a more in-depth and comprehensive study, definition and assessment of the processes taking place. The work does not consider impacts on the subsoil caused by natural phenomena, disasters and other negative natural phenomena, the involvement of human activity has not been proven.

The first concept concerns the consequences arising as a result of technogenic impacts on the geological environment, which, with some degree of convention, can be identified with the concept of “subsoil”. The resulting consequences themselves will be designated by the term “geological damage”, i.e. damage caused to the geological environment (GE) by human activity.

Another concept includes a set of consequences caused by the reaction of the geological system (subsoil) to the impacts of technogenesis, therefore they can be called “geotechnogenic consequences.” If they are of a negative nature, which, as a rule, is what happens in practice, then they can rightfully be considered “geotechnogenic damage.” Its components are environmental, economic, social and other consequences that have a negative impact on human life and their habitat, incl. natural.

The most popular area of mining activity is the development of deposits, the main goal of which is to remove from the subsoil a part of the subsoil substance that is useful for society - mineral formations. In this case, geological damage (GI) is caused to the subsoil,
arising at various stages and phases of mineral deposit development.

At the same time, possible impacts on natural resources, using the main provisions of the EIA system, can be divided into 4 groups according to an objective classification criterion that reflects the nature (distinctive property, feature) of the impact on the subsoil:

Group I. Separation (removal) of subsoil substance, leading to a decrease in its quantity.

Group II. Transformation or disturbance of the geological environment. It can manifest itself in the form of the creation of underground cavities, quarries, pits, excavations, trenches, depressions; redistribution of stress fields in the mountain range in the mining area; disruption of aquifers, gases, fluids, energy and other flows circulating in the subsurface; changes in mining and geological, structural characteristics and properties of the geological environment containing mineral formations; changes in the landscape of the territory occupied by geological and mining allotments, etc.

III group. Pollution of the geological environment (geomechanical, hydrogeological, geochemical, radiation, geothermal, geobacteriological).

IV group. Complex (synenergetic) impact on the subsoil, manifested by various combinations of impacts from the three above groups.

In accordance with the existing practice of exploiting mineral deposits, we consider possible impacts on hydraulic structures in three main stages:

Stage 1 - Study of the geological environment, incl. their component parts are mineral formations (mineral deposits).

Stage 2 - Development (exploitation) of mineral deposits.

Stage 3 - Completion of development (development) of mineral deposits - liquidation (conservation) of mining facilities.

At the stage of studying the subsoil, carried out for the purpose of detecting (searching for) mineral formations, the impact on the geological environment, with some degree of convention, can be divided according to an objective criterion - the degree of physical integrity of the geological system - into two groups: impacts without significant violation of the integrity of the geological environment (1st group) and exposure to violation of the integrity and properties of the GS.

The 1st group of impacts includes prospecting and seismic exploration work, which have virtually no effect on the state of the mountain range.

The 2nd group of impacts is caused by geological exploration work (GRR), carried out using wells, mine workings and other work leading to a change in the physical integrity of the geological structure. In this case, all 4 of the above types of impacts on the horizontal structure are possible - removal of subsoil substances (during the excavation of geological exploration workings and, to a lesser extent, when drilling wells); disturbance of the geological environment (during excavation of mine workings using explosives); pollution (occurs only in certain cases - when drilling oil, gas and other exploration wells, when crossing underground thermal, mineralized waters) and complex impact (rarely occurs - for example, when geological exploration works cross mineralized water, gas-bearing horizons, fluid flows).

Thus, it can be stated that at the stage of studying the subsoil, the impact on hydrocarbons appears insignificantly, mainly during exploration and additional exploration of mineral deposits produced using mining workings and, partially, during drilling of exploratory wells for liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons.

At the stage of development of an explored mineral deposit, the decisive role in the impact on the geological system is played by the method (technology) used for its development, or more precisely, the method (technical means) of removing part of it from the geological environment - a mineral formation, which is accepted as the main classification feature for systematizing possible impacts.

In accordance with this characteristic, impacts are divided into four groups:

1 group - Mechanical method. It is typical for the extraction of predominantly solid minerals and is carried out by well-known technical means (coal miners, dredges, jackhammers, saws, excavators, shovels and draglines, etc.).

Group 2 - Explosive method. It is most typical for the development of solid minerals in the presence of rocks that are not amenable to mechanical action.

Group 3 - Hydrodynamic method, when as technical means Hydromonitors are used to separate the mineral from the massif.

Group 4 - Borehole geotechnology in its various modifications. This is the main method of extracting liquid, gaseous minerals and their mixtures from the depths. It also includes in-situ leaching methods, which are increasingly used.

In each of these groups, subgroups, classes, species, subspecies and other smaller divisions are distinguished.

Analyzing these methods for removing mineral formations from geological systems from the perspective of determining possible impacts, it should be noted that in addition to the main purpose for which they were created and are constantly being improved, i.e. extraction of mineral resources, these methods are characterized by all other types of impacts, manifested on different scales, power and intensity. They have their own specific characteristics, according to which it is advisable to differentiate groups.

At the final stage of field development, i.e. during the liquidation or conservation of a mining enterprise
acceptance, when the process of extraction (removal from the subsoil) of a mineral is completed, there are no direct, immediate impacts on the geological system, however, during this period, the consequences of the previous stages of development of the field may become more active and widespread, and not immediately, but sometimes after a period of time significant (months, years).

Quantitative determination and assessment of the impacts of technogenesis on the geological environment, and therefore geological damage, is a very complex, in most cases difficult and sometimes simply unsolvable task. One of the main reasons is that to date, no unified approach has been developed to the criteria for assessing technogenic impacts on geological systems, or more precisely to the criteria for the perception of our impacts by the geological environment.

For example, if a mineral formation is removed from the subsoil, then its quantity is easy to determine, but it is very difficult to quantify the consequences of such removal, because It is sometimes possible to reliably imagine how the GS will behave, but at the moment, in a given local area, with reliably established initial indicators. However, it is almost impossible to predict the response of the GS over a long period and on a spatial scale using the available methods and means.

The task becomes even more complex when we are dealing with disruption of natural processes occurring in the subsurface, for example, when mine workings cross aquifers or fluid flows. Thus, as a result of nuclear explosions carried out from 1974 to 1987 in the Leno-Tungus and Khatanga-Vilyui provinces at depths from 100 to 1560 m, plutonium, cesium, strontium were discovered in river bottom sediments, soil, plants and animals (in doses exceeding the standards by tens and hundreds of times (!)).

Or, as a result of the liquidation of mines in the Moscow region coal basin, some areas became waterlogged and swamped. One more example. According to various experts, today there have been about 70 earthquakes on the planet with a magnitude of more than 5 on the Richter scale, initiated by human activity in the depths. The above examples confirm our thesis that at present it is not only possible to evaluate, but also to quantify geological damage, i.e. damage caused to subsoil human activity almost impossible. This statement is explained not so much by the difficulty of identifying cause-and-effect relationships between technogenesis and the subsoil, but by the presence of enormous impacts on planet Earth from the surrounding space environment. However, the consequences of geological damage that are negative, i.e. “geotechnogenic damage” to foresee,
defining and assessing is a completely solvable task.

In this case, “geotechnogenic damage” can be divided into the following classes:

I. Natural and ecological.

II. Economic.

III. Social.

Natural and environmental damage

Conventionally, this class can be divided into three groups: Group 1. Damage caused, in comparison with the established boundary parameters (standards), by the incomplete removal (extraction) of a mineral from the subsoil, leading to a reduction in reserves of the deposit (non-renewable georesource), to premature (in comparison with the project) liquidation, at best, conservation of mining production, the need to find new sources of replenishment of the mineral resource base with all other negative consequences.

Dividing the group into types, etc. it is possible to carry out using a classification feature - a specific source (cause) of the damage. Among these reasons:

The insufficient completeness, authenticity and reliability of mining and geological information on mineral reserves, quantitative and quality characteristics and properties of subsoil areas and mineral formations. Late receipt and provision of it, incl. when recalculating inventories;

Lack of prompt (express) and constant (on stationary devices and installations) quantitative and qualitative accounting and control of extracted (including those sent to warehouses and dumps), as well as reserves left in the depths of the main and co-occurring minerals and the useful components they contain;

Exceeding (in comparison with established standards) the volume of recoverable mineral reserves from the best mining areas in terms of quality or operating conditions and the time of their extraction;

Violation established schemes, procedure, operations and timing of development of individual mining areas of deposits;

Unjustified changes in technologies and technological schemes for the development of deposits and their sections, providing for a decrease in the completeness and quality of extraction from the subsoil of the main and co-occurring minerals during mining and associated components during primary processing (enrichment);

Violation of the schemes, procedure and timeliness of conservation and liquidation of a mining enterprise and associated mining property established by the project or regulations;

Unauthorized development of mineral resource areas and/or non-compliance accepted procedure and the terms of use of these areas for other purposes;

Distribution and accumulation of industrial and other waste in catchment areas and in areas of groundwater used for drinking and industrial water supply;

Lack of legalized agreements or inconsistency in the actions of subsoil users operating deposits in the same or related licensed subsoil areas.

Group 2. Damage caused to the natural environment associated with the transformation (disturbance) of part of the earth's surface, mountain or geological allotment, landscape and natural resources located in this territory, which may be unsuitable for use, destroyed or disturbed. When identifying species in a group, it is advisable to use the ecosystems that are part of the licensed subsoil plot as the main feature. Group 3. Damage to the natural environment and humans caused by pollutants (pollution damage) generated during the development and use of mineral resources and entering the atmosphere, water bodies, soil, flora, fauna, i.e. affecting bio, phyto and zoocenosis. The identification of types (subtypes) of damage in this group depends on the climatic and geographical characteristics of individual regions and the nature of the impacts generated during subsoil use. In general, you can use the EIA criteria and indicators (currently IS019011).

Group 4. Cumulative (synergistic) damage to the natural environment and humans. It is a combination of the above three groups, based on the specific operating conditions of a single deposit or a set of deposit areas related in terms of mining, geological and technological development conditions.

As a possible and specific methodological approach for a comprehensive assessment of natural and environmental damage, as an integral part of geotechnogenic damage, it is advisable to use the methodology proposed by Dr. IN AND. Pa-pichev. In it, the author examines most types of natural resources that may be subject to technogenic impacts of mining production, based on the degree of direct (direct) and indirect (indirect) extraction of natural resources, and proposes to consider “... deviations of actual values of the quantity of a resource from its original (natural) values, which can result from both direct and indirect consumption of the resource.”

Developed by V.I. Papichev’s method allows one to calculate the load on the main components of the natural environment for a given time interval of exposure, incl. load on the subsoil. In particular, an expression has been proposed for calculating the load on the main components of the natural environment:

By performing calculations using specific examples, the author proved the possibility and feasibility of using the methodology he proposed.

Economic damage

Economic damage consists mainly of losses and lost profits, according to which this class of damage is divided into 2 groups: Group 1. Losses.

Types of losses can be:
- additional costs caused by insufficient or unreliable mining and geological information about the licensed deposit or its part (properties, characteristics, etc.);

Excessive losses of mineral reserves, incl. written off or transferred to the category of off-balance sheet (unprofitable) reserves formed due to irrational selective extraction of deposit areas that are best in quality or operating conditions;

Loss or damage to mining property;

Unforeseen expenses associated with the need to preserve the geological environment disturbed by mining operations in a condition suitable for further use;

Expenditures of funds and resources necessary to eliminate environmental damage in all its manifestations.

Group 2. Lost profits (lost income).

Lost profits are considered from 2 positions: the state, as the owner of the subsoil, and the user of the subsoil, and, as a rule, these positions do not coincide, i.e. the lost benefit by the state can be assessed as unjustified enrichment of subsoil users, which, for example, occurs in case of irrational selective extraction of reserves, as well as when the state provided the subsoil user with insufficiently complete and high-quality geological information about the deposit or part thereof put up for tender. Consequently, the group can be represented by two types of damage: the state and the subsoil user.

Social damage

Sources of social damage from subsoil use in the presence of state, private and mixed mining companies have different origins. The damage itself is determined mainly by the four above classes of man-made damage, so the allocation to a separate class is conditional.

It is advisable to consider the state of human health as the main sign of its differentiation, taking into account the moral component. The division of social damage into groups, types and smaller segments is a rather complex, multifactorial problem, the solution of which is the subject of special research. To a first approximation, differentiation of the “social damage” class can be made on the basis of the main factors influencing the physiological and mental state of a person, his groups, and communities. For example, we can distinguish groups characterized by: the quality of the natural environment (Kuzbass, Kursk magnetic anomaly, the Urals and other mountain provinces, regions and industrial hubs), infrastructure, meaning transport, communications (regions of the Far North, Far East, other sparsely populated areas ), social, national, cultural and other living conditions, population concentration, and other significant factors.

The difficulty of identifying social damage from subsoil use is explained by the fact that mining is not always and not everywhere the main activity in places where people live. The difficulty of assessments increases significantly in areas with developed industry, infrastructure, where mining does not play a leading role in socio-economic development, or when the socio-economic importance of the mineral resource complex is comparable to other industries operating in the territory or ecosystem under consideration. Therefore, the establishment and assessment of social damage from subsoil use must be carried out separately in each specific case on the basis of in-depth research. This provision is also true for the general (total) assessment of damages incurred, both for individual mining facilities, and for regions and various administrative entities.

As an example illustrating a specific approach to determining and assessing damages in the field of subsoil use, one can cite the Republic of Tatarstan, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of which approved the “Procedure for calculating damages for violations in the field of subsoil use in the Republic of Tatarstan” (Order dated April 9, 2002 No. 322) .

According to this order, the total amount of damage to the state in case of violation of legislation in the field of subsoil use consists of the following components:

Damage caused to the subsoil by the irreparable loss of mineral reserves;

Loss of budgets different levels due to failure to pay taxes (payments) for the use of subsoil;

Damage caused to land and plant resources as a result of destruction (degradation) of the soil layer and vegetation in the area of unauthorized use of subsoil in the adjacent territory;

Costs of carrying out work to assess the extent of damage to subsoil and harmful effects on the natural environment (including calculation of losses and execution of relevant documents).

The above-mentioned document provides a procedure for determining damage in case of violation of the law, provides an assessment of the total amount of damage with examples of calculating the specific amount of damage caused to the subsoil and budgets of different levels, in relation to the development of common mineral resources. So, for example, the damage caused to the subsoil (Un) by the irreparable loss of mineral reserves is determined by the product of the quantity of the extracted mineral resource (V) by the standard value of the mineral resource (Nn), by the cost of a unit of the extracted mineral resource (S) and by the reliability coefficient of the reserves categories (D).

The standards for the cost of minerals established in the Republic of Tatarstan are presented in the table.

The main provisions of the methodological approach used in the republic can be taken into account when developing other types of mineral resources.

The total geotechnogenic damage is assessed in each specific case for individual objects, in our case, mineral deposits studied and developed as individual entrepreneurs, so legal entities(by their group) depending on the zone of influence of the developed field (its part) on the environment, including infrastructure and population. Determining the zone of influence represents an independent research problem. When performing it, it is important to take into account the degree of susceptibility of the geological and environmental environment to possible impacts.

Knowledge of the sources and causes of geological and geotechnogenic damage allows us to seek rational measures to prevent them or eliminate negative consequences, based on the thesis that any geological damage causes geotechnogenic damage, i.e. Technogenic impact on hydraulic structures simultaneously generates both geological and geotechnogenic damage. From this thesis it follows that before identifying, assessing and developing any measures aimed at eliminating geotechnogenic damage, it is necessary to study, identify the sources and take measures to prevent geological damage.

At the same time, it is important that the measures taken or proposed are of a systematic nature, meaning:

Organization of a special state body for control and supervision in the field of subsoil use;

Interconnectedness and interdependence of any projects, programs, regulations, plans and decisions;

Hierarchical ranking (vertically and horizontally) by levels of their implementation;

Logically structured and consistent implementation of planned activities with the introduction of personal responsibility, first of all, representatives of state executive authorities for the timely implementation of these activities;

Adoption of a unified methodological approach legalized at the Federation level to the development and implementation of methods, means and measures for control and supervision of rational subsoil use.

To a large extent, although in declarative form, possible measures to prevent or minimize these damages are set out in Federal law“On subsoil” (Chapter 23) and more specifically in the “Rules for the protection of subsoil” PB-07-601-03.M. However, the real and effective use of even these far from ideal regulatory documents, is seriously and noticeably hampered by the current control and supervisory apparatus of government administration, the functions of which are “spread out” across various ministries, services and agencies related to the functioning of the country’s mineral-industrial complex.

We believe that the above considerations, which reveal the essence of technogenesis in the subsoil during the development of mineral deposits, will be useful to specialists dealing with the problems of rational development of georesources and conservation of subsoil.

LITERATURE:

1. Panfilov E.I. “Russian mining legislation: state and ways of its development.” M. Ed. IPKON RAS. 2004. p.35.

2. Papichev V.I. Methodology for a comprehensive assessment of the technogenic impact of mining on the environment (abstract of doctoral dissertation). M. Ed. IPKON RAS. 2004. p.41.

The extraction of minerals and fuel sometimes leads to serious consequences not only for humans, but also for the environment as a whole. The confrontation between people and nature has long been one of the most difficult issues discussed by scientists. Environmentalists say that the planet tolerates our presence and allows the “two-legged” inhabitants of the Earth a lot for a decent existence and earning money at their own expense. Note that the facts indicate the opposite. Not a single type of human activity passes without a trace, and everything has its own return.

War or rivalry?

The extraction of minerals and fuels, their transportation, processing and use bring undoubted benefits to people. This has serious environmental consequences. Moreover, according to experts, everything begins from the moment the site is prepared for mining operations.

“There are many problems. During exploration of deposits, forests are cut down, animals and birds leave their habitats, periodic pollution of hitherto untouched nature occurs with exhaust gases, gasoline is spilled when refueling equipment, and so on. During the exploitation of fields, problems increase as more complex equipment, and there is also a possibility of an oil release, a breakthrough in the sludge storage pit and other emergency situations. Oil releases are especially dangerous during offshore production, since in this case the oil spreads across the sea. Such pollution is very difficult to eliminate, and many people suffer. sea creatures. During the construction of oil and gas pipelines, pipe leaks or ruptures are also likely, which leads to fires and soil contamination. And of course, all pipelines can also block the usual migration routes of animals,” says ecologist Vadim Rukovitsyn.

Over the past 50 years, excesses have occurred more and more frequently. In April 2010, an explosion occurred on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico due to technical malfunctions. It entailed irreparable consequences - for 152 days, rescuers from all over the world were unable to stop the oil leak. The platform itself sank. To this day, experts cannot determine the volume of fuel that spilled into the waters of the bay.

It was calculated that as a result terrible catastrophe 75 000 square kilometers The water surface was covered with a dense oil film. The most severe environmental damage was felt in the American states adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico - Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida. The coast was literally littered with the corpses of sea animals and birds. In total, at least 400 species of rare animals, birds and amphibians were on the verge of extinction. Experts have recorded outbreaks of mass deaths of marine mammals within the bay, in particular cetaceans.

In the same year, due to an accident on an Exxon Valdez tanker, a huge amount of oil entered the ocean in the Alaska region, which led to the pollution of 2092.15 kilometers coastline. The ecosystem has suffered irreparable damage. And today she still has not recovered from that tragedy. Representatives of 32 species died wildlife, of which only 13 were saved. They could not restore one of the subspecies of killer whales and Pacific herring. Let us note that such major tragedies occur not only abroad. Russian industry also has something to boast about.

According to Rostechnadzor, the following officially recorded accidents involving oil spills occurred at oil industry facilities in 2015 alone.

On January 11, 2015, LLC RN-Krasnodarneftegaz experienced a depressurization of the interfield pipeline 5 km from the Troitskaya UPPNIV towards the city of Krymsk on the right side of the Slavyansk-on-Kuban - Krymsk highway. As a result of an oil release of 2.3 m3, the total area of contamination amounted to 0.04 hectares.

On January 17, 2015, at Gazprom Dobycha Krasnodar LLC, during scheduled work to clear the route passage of the Western Soplesk-Vuktyl condensate pipeline, a spot with a diameter of 3 m with a characteristic odor of condensate-containing liquid was discovered. As a result of the release of petroleum products in a volume of 10 m 3, the total area of contamination amounted to 0.07 hectares.

On June 23, 2015, at RN-Yugansk-neftegaz LLC, as a result of depressurization of the pipeline “UP No. 8 - TsPPN-1”, oil-containing liquid leaked onto the water surface of the floodplain of the Cheuskin channel. The volume of oil spilled was 204.6 m3.

December 29, 2015 at RITEK JSC on the oil pipeline “SPN Miroshniki - TsPPN” approximately 7 kilometers from the village of Miroshnikov, Kotovsky district Volgograd region a water-oil-gas mixture with a volume of 282.35 m 3 s was released with total area pollution 0.068 ha.

On December 25, 2015, at JSC RITEK, on the oil pipeline “SPN “Ovrazhny” - SPN-1”, 7 kilometers from the village of Miroshnikov, Volgograd Region, a release of water-oil-gas liquid with a volume of 270 m3 occurred with a total contamination area of 0.072 hectares.

Experts already have information about recent tragedies.

“A major accident occurred at the LUKOIL field named after Alabushin (North-Ipatskoye) in the Komi Republic in the spring of 2017, when the fire was extinguished only a month later. The amount of damage to the forest fund is close to 8 million rubles; the field requires repairs to three nearby wells. In July 2017, a gas release occurred at the Talakanskoye field in Yakutia. The reason was the destruction of wellhead equipment. There was no fire and the accident was eliminated in a fairly short time. The combustion of associated petroleum gas (APG) has a great impact on the environment. And, if in the whole country the level of APG utilization increased from 75% in 2011 to 86% in 2015, then in Eastern Siberia the problem of APG flaring is very acute. At the end of 2015, the total volume of gas production in the ESPO zone exceeded 13 billion m3, most of which was flared. As a result, not only millions of tons of combustion products are released into the atmosphere, but also the strategic gas - helium - is lost, and up to 10 million m 3 evaporates. This corresponds to 8% of the global helium consumption market,” recalls Alexander Klimentyev, scientific director of the Industrial Innovations project.

Where does the Motherland begin?

To put it bluntly, there is nothing to blame the miners for, they are simply doing their job. The question is different: how skillfully all operations are carried out and how closely the quality of work is monitored. Most environmental and man-made disasters occur precisely due to human negligence. Laziness is the engine of progress, but when damage can be caused not only to nature, but also to the workers of the enterprise, the question arises about its legality.

Nowadays, automation and modern systems security, of course, is partially saved, but even if the largest companies with a stable financial income, problems arise, we need to think about it. To reduce the adverse impact of oil production on the environment, the industry adheres to high environmental requirements. To prevent accidents, companies are introducing new operating standards that take into account past negative experiences and promoting a culture of safe work practices. Develop technical and technological means to prevent the risk of emergency situations.

“The main method of dealing with emergencies is their prevention. Therefore, periodic environmental monitoring is carried out at the fields: samples of soil, water, air, plants are taken, noise is measured, and the species composition of animals is monitored. Also, an environmental supervisor is constantly present at the sites, who monitors all processes on site and makes sure that everything goes within the framework of environmental standards. When operating fields, a team from the Ministry of Emergency Situations is always on duty, equipped with spill response equipment. When producing on the shelf, they also use analysis of sea photographs from satellites to promptly record oil spills and, accordingly, timely liquidate the accident. When monitoring, helicopters, all-terrain vehicles, satellites are used to obtain photographs, and ships are used to monitor the sea. At the moment, exploration at the Khataganskoye field is being carried out using extremely gentle methods, since Arctic ecosystems are the most sensitive to environmental impacts. The field is located under a bay, but the well is on land and is drilled at a certain angle. Thus, the alienation of space is minimal and possible straits will be easier to eliminate. There are technologies for eliminating wastewater through maximum treatment and reuse, as well as waste minimization. If production is carried out correctly and proper reclamation of deposits is carried out after their development, then the consequences for nature include the release of a large amount of harmful substances into the atmosphere during operation and the injection of a large amount of liquid into the lithosphere instead of oil. If we consider the real situation, then production leads to changes in the habitats of animals, pollution of the natural environment with construction waste, and periodic oil spills that spoil water, soil and air,” assures Vadim Rukovitsyn.

Exact numbers

According to the latest data from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation, even with the best technologies in the world, only 2-3% of the rock mass extracted from the bowels is used, and the rest of it turns either into industrial emissions, which is about 20%, or into waste - about 78%. Waste tailings formed during the production of commercial iron ores, copper, zinc and pyrite concentrates contain significant amounts of copper, zinc, sulfur, and rare elements. They themselves not only occupy vast areas, but are also a source of pollution that poisons water, soil, and air. Over the years of mining in the adjacent territories, a huge amount of solid mining waste accumulates, such as dumps, oxidized and off-balance ores, sludge in mine neutralization ponds. Well, according to the Ministry, mining operations in Russia have accumulated tens of billions of tons of waste, including dumps from processing plants.

For example, in the Urals the total amount of waste reaches 10 billion tons. Per share Sverdlovsk region accounts for up to 30% of waste from all of Russia. Every year, about 5 billion tons of waste are generated in our country, of which about 4.8 billion tons are obtained during mining. No more than 46% is recycled. For comparison: in Russia only about 25-30% of man-made waste is recycled, while in the world this figure reaches 85-90%.

Also, at coal industry enterprises, the volume of recorded accumulated dumps exceeds 10 billion m3, and half of them are subject to combustion. The dumps of rewashed sands formed as a result of the development of placer deposits in the Magadan region amount to 1.5 billion m 3 and are estimated to contain about 500 tons of gold. In the Murmansk region, more than 150 million tons of waste are stored annually, the total volume of which has now reached 8 billion tons. Understanding the danger of these substances to nature, since 1989, Tatneft specialists have processed 1.4 million tons of oil sludge, liquidated about 100 barns containing them and returned about 30 hectares of land to agricultural production. Tatneft, together with the Russian Academy of Sciences, began construction of a pilot plant for processing bitumen oil with a capacity of 50 thousand tons per year, based on the use of the hydroconversion method and domestic catalysts for processing heavy residues, such as tar, into light fractions.

Currently, preparations are underway for the development of technogenic deposits of copper and nickel that have accumulated over many years in the dumps of the Allarechenskoye deposit in the Murmansk region, the technogenic deposit of Barriernoye Lake in the Norilsk mining region, and the slag dump of the Sredneuralsk copper smelter. In Russia, according to experts, more than 8 million tons of copper, 9 million tons of zinc and other useful components are concentrated in the waste of the copper, lead-zinc, nickel-cobalt, tungsten-molybdenum, tin, and aluminum industries. At the same time, the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources estimates proven reserves of copper at 67 million tons with an annual production of 0.8 million tons, zinc - 42 million tons with an annual production of 0.4 million tons.

Provided that useful components of technogenic raw materials are fully involved in economic circulation, the increase in the volume of industrial products produced in Russia could amount to about 10 trillion rubles. This could give the budget about 300 billion rubles in taxes for the entire period of development of this category of man-made reserves, or about 20 billion rubles per year. Moreover, the indicated annual tax amount is comparable to the amount of taxes received from the entire non-ferrous metals mining sector. Technogenic deposits can fill the country's deficit in strategic metals: nickel, copper and cobalt, gold, molybdenum, silver. However, today there are objective reasons for the lack of interest among potential investors. This affects the development of technogenic deposits in Russia. The key reasons are considered to be the lower quality of ecological raw materials compared to natural deposits, which decreases even more over time, the complexity and high cost of extracting solid components due to the physical and chemical properties of the raw materials, the lack of demand for certain types of raw materials in the presence of significant volumes and, of course, environmental risks. To create motivation for the development of technogenic raw materials, state coordination of all Russian participants in the process of development of technogenic deposits is necessary.

Also acute are issues related to the release of mine gases in concentrations dangerous to humans on the earth's surface in the residential sector. Despite the fact that most of the liquidated mines are flooded, and the flood levels have settled at a static level, gas release processes continue in a number of mining areas of the mines. At hazardous and environmentally threatening sites, regular air, soil and water samples are taken. They also conduct preventive conversations with the local population. In 2015 alone, in 5 coal mining regions, more than 90,000 measurements and over 4,000 laboratory analyzes of the air environment were performed in 2,613 objects, including 1,866 residential objects. As practice shows, timely identified problems can not only prevent the occurrence of emergency situations, but also stabilize environmental situation in mining areas. In some cases, even save significant budget funds.

Letter of the law

Scientists are coming up with new methods to combat pollution. But when will there be a stable result? Savings on after-sales service industrial equipment and strict personnel selection does not give a positive result. “Perhaps it will do just like that!” won't work in this situation. There are large companies and corporations that are steadily working not only to improve the efficiency of their enterprises, but also to develop automation in them. But, as practice shows, this is not enough yet. Most environmentalists and civil activists demand the introduction of strict penalties for negligent treatment of nature during industrial work. Fine and close pest enterprises. However, this will not solve the main problem of our country - human laziness and, to some extent, the lack of self-preservation instinct among some employees. After all, if we don’t think about ourselves and our future, why spend our time on an area that is developing and help the state get out of a difficult situation?

“There are many normative acts, starting with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, then codes, individual laws, for example, “On Environmental Protection,” Government resolutions, regulations, orders of ministries, instructions. Also regional legislation. This branch of legislation has not been codified separately. There is administrative liability for environmental pollution, concealment, deliberate distortion or untimely reporting of complete and reliable information about the state of the environment and natural resources, sources of pollution of the environment and natural resources or other harmful effects on the environment and natural resources. Last year, the Ministry of Natural Resources proposed amendments to the Code of Administrative Offences, establishing administrative liability for failure to fulfill obligations to prevent and eliminate oil and petroleum product spills. As far as I know, they have not yet been adopted,” comments Vadim Krasnopolsky, project coordinator for the oil and gas sector of the Barents branch of the World Wildlife Fund.

It is outrageous that there is no obligation to save animals during environmental disasters. The maximum that the culprit faces is a fine. At the beginning of August, the World Wildlife Fund, together with environmental organizations and PJSC Lukoil, conducted specialized training in Naryan-Mar. The purpose of the event was to prevent the death of animals in the event of emergency oil spills.

“The training took place in two stages. The first, theoretical, was devoted to planning operations to respond to an oil spill. Participants learned about best practices in animal rescue, studied the specifics of working in the Arctic, and simulated the actions of rescue services in the event of an accident. During practical course, which took place on the shore of a reservoir, participants mastered the search and collection of birds contaminated with oil, became familiar with the basics of veterinary care for injured animals, and, thanks to a special robot “Roboduck,” they trained to catch birds at the site of an oil spill. The company’s employees can use the experience gained in the future - to develop corporate documentation, conduct internal trainings and prepare emergency rescue teams, as well as to create best practices for the oil and gas industry in Russia,” reports the WWF press service.

In 2015, the Gazprom Group commissioned 71 wastewater treatment plants and 15 recycling water supply systems. Many environmental measures have been taken to protect and reproduce fish stocks, clean up and improve areas, including coastal ones. Financial support is provided to specialized organizations. Behind last years Enterprises of the Gazprom group released several million fry into the sea. At sea, in areas where the company operates, for example, around the Prirazlomnaya platform, fish protection devices have been installed.

The Board of Directors of Rosneft also approved a number of environmental protection goals for all aspects of environmental activities until 2025 inclusive. The main areas of work are the elimination of waste and pollution accumulated from the activities of third parties at the company’s facilities, timely fulfillment of environmental obligations arising from current activities companies. The reduction of pollutant discharges into water bodies and into the atmosphere, conservation of biodiversity, energy and resource conservation are also monitored. All the company’s activities can be seen in the regular report on the sustainable development of PJSC NK Rosneft.

Let us note that experts are now working en masse to reduce the number of possible disasters. For example, the use of special dispersant reagents makes it possible to speed up the collection of spilled oil from the surface of the water. Artificially bred destructive bacteria sprayed onto an oil slick can quickly process oil, turning it into safer products. To prevent the spread of oil spills, so-called booms are widely used. Burning oil from the surface of the water is also practiced. To combat atmospheric pollution with greenhouse gases, various technologies are being developed to capture carbon dioxide and utilize it. Government agencies are introducing new environmental standards.

Text: Kira Generalskaya