State of the Environment
Bulgaria 2003
Soil
Soil violation and contamination from the mining industry
The coal extraction during the last 3 years has not changed considerably, with little exceptions during 2001, when the coal extraction has increased by 8%. During the last year coal mining industry generated 24 547,4 kt mining dusts, which means a 31% decrease in dusts generation in comparison with 1999. The quantity of usable mining dusts in coal mining in 2001 decreased by 40% compared to that in the year 2000.
Fig. 7 Coal extraction
In the last two years, violated land from coal extracting is more than 100 ha less than in 1999. Fig 8 shows that there is a decrease in the recovered area in 2001 in comparison with the year 2000 by 137 ha.
Fig. 8 Violated and recovered lands from mining activities
Last update on March 2003