EM - Escola de Minas

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Remediation alternatives for an abandoned gold mine contaminated with mercury in Brazil.
(2022) Miranda, José Fernando; Lima, Hernani Mota de; Curi, Adilson; Luz, José Aurélio Medeiros da; Destro, Elton
Heavy metal contamination of soils has generated two major problems, namely, loss of land value and health risk for people near contaminated sites. Studies on soil remediation are typically conducted on a pilot scale under very controlled conditions. This is a misleading approach, once the complexity of the actual biogeochemical soil conditions may causes inefficiency in full scale real-world application. In addition, environmental impacts of remediation practices themselves are often ignored, which may make them unfeasible. In 2002, an occurrence of mercury in an abandoned old gold mine was detected in a rural area of Descoberto, Brazil. In 2014, the State Public Prosecutor required from the responsible State Environment Agency, a remediation project to the area. This study compares alternatives for remediation of the contaminated area. Also a historical approach on mercury amalgamation in gold mining in the region, in order to estimate the amount of mercury remaining in the site. The geochemical characterization of the contaminated area was performed to describe the contamination process. The results were compared with the remediation proposal advocated by the Brazilian Ministry Public, and some alternatives for decontamination of the area were studied. The electrokinetic method has displayed the lowest overall unit cost, between US$ 120.00/t and US$ 260.00/t. The residual Hg concentration after four cycles of the electrokinetic technique was estimated at 1.28 mg (Hg)/kg (soil), slightly higher than the intervention value for agricultural soil, which is 1.20 mg (Hg)/kg (soil).
Public use and conservation of trails at the Parque Natural Municipal das Andorinhas, Ouro Preto, Brazil.
(2021) Machado, Simone Fernandes; Fonseca Filho, Ricardo Eustáquio; Nogueira, Sandra Maria Antunes
Several categories of Protected Areas (PAs) established in Brazil allow for public use. However, the impacts resulting from tourist visitation activity in them are poorly researched and technically managed. The central question of the study is how the unplanned opening of trails for tourism purposes can impact the Parque Natural Municipal das Andorinhas (PNMA), a natural park, in Ouro Preto (MG, Brazil). The hypothesis is the understanding that the use of unplanned trails can impact the PA. In this sense, the objective of this work was to analyze nine trails used for tourist visitation at the PNMA. The research methodology included bibliographic and documentary research of the trails, their management, and environmental impacts; elaboration of a structured quali-quantitative form to analyze them; and fieldwork. As a result, it was observed that the main environmental characteristics of tourist interest are the observation of flora and fauna and watercourses; and the main impacts are fires, the irregular opening of trails, and deforestation. It is concluded that knowledge regarding the situation of the trails can help the PA management in their planning and conservation.
Biodiversity monitoring in the environmental impact assessment ofmining projects : a (persistent) waste of time and money?
(2017) Dias, Amanda Monique da Silva; Fonseca, Alberto de Freitas Castro; Paglia, Adriano Pereira
Environmental impact assessments, not only in Brazil, but also globally, have long had their effectivenessquestioned. Among the most frequently debated problems are: low quality of the impact assessmentstatements, weak public participation, project delays, increased costs for proponents, amongst others.The ineffectiveness of the environmental impact assessment system is corroborated by recent schol-arly articles that argue that poor follow-up is one of the key elements behind the worst environmentaldisaster in Brazil, the Fundão Dam failure. The quality of monitoring programs has long been criticizedin Brazil for being partially implemented and for failing to clearly translate into better environmentaldecision-making. This paper discusses the state of environmental impact assessment related to biodi-versity monitoring programs in Brazil’s mining regions, highlighting the political interference aroundthis practice. Biodiversity monitoring programs should set a collection protocol, using a robust samp-ling design, with sufficient survey effort, spatial replication, methodological consistency and time todetect eventual ecological alterations. Without scientific rigor, collected data may have no value fordecision-making, representing a complete waste of time and money.

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