effects of human activities on natural disasters
V I S I T I N G T H E
HUSNICIOARA COAL MINE
Husnicioara Coal Mine is an open-pit mining exploitation, one of the largest in Romania located in Husnicioara, in the central part of the Mehedinţi county, 15 km from the county seat (Drobeta Turnu-Severin).
The mine is endowed with five bucket-wheel excavators, three spreaders, one mixed machine and four deposits spreader. The total proven recoverable reserves of the mine amount to 67 million tons of lignite. Depending on the relief, the technological process for lignite extraction from Husnicioara open pit uses 2 or 3 excavation steps of the mine waste deposits that lie over the coal strata (I+IV).
So far, the mining activities have affected 3.5 km2, including part of the Lungă and Lacului Valleys, and Faţa Lacului and Pădurea Dumbrava hills. The area of the mining exploitation is an artificial space that functions according to imposed rules.
The lignite exploitation implies the dislocation, relocation and storage of materials, which has caused a significant change of the local geomorphological context, leading to the construction of some anthropic structures such as cavities and prominent relief forms.
Mining areas present negative aspects which disturb the ground and underground water circulation, lead to morphological changes of the riverbeds, change the flow dynamics, are aggressive towards the biotic and soil domains, trigger or accelerate the present geomorphological processes, pollute the natural components of the geomorphological system.
The anthropic activities from Husnicioara open pit have a direct and indirect influence on the relief: directly, it changes the natural equilibrium of the terrain and the modelling processes, by inducing changes in the superficial flow regime and diminution of the flows feeding some gullies, by covering their springhead with materials from the open pit; their indirect influence is marked by the changes of some geosystem components (deforestation, changes of the slopes, remodeling of the micro-relief).
MINING DUMPS
Recommendations from the specialists consist of landscaping and soil improvement (increased protection and fertility). Soil improvement works are: depositing a layer of soil at least 30 cm on the surface; sowing with perennial grasses (alfalfa, clover), which are designed to fix the soil and at the same time to enrich the content of mineral elements (protection crop); administration of fertilizers; planting area with locust tree is the only one that can capitalize on these lands. For this purpose, locust was chosen because of its resilience to drought, quick development and abundant tree crown.
On the inner tip, the recultivation of locust trees began again in 2010, on its southern part, from the final embankment of the open pit. Now there are 130 ha afforested with locust tree.
