Mine water outbreak and stability risks : examples and challenges from England and Wales

Abstract Although their frequency of occurrence is rare, the sudden outbreak of mine water from abandoned mines, or collapse of waste rock stores can be environmentally significant and represent significant postclosure legacies. This paper reports on a national survey of abandoned non-coal mine sites where concerns over mine water outbreak or stability are apparent across England and Wales. A range of respondents across environmental regulators and local authorities were consulted to populate a geodatabase. Outbreak risk was highlighted as a documented or suspected concern at 19 mine sites. Typical issues were related to adit blockages and associated perched mine water alongside issues of sudden ingress of surface waters into mines under high flow conditions. The majority of the responses concerning stability issues (72 sites in total) were related to fluvial erosion of riparian waste rock heaps. While successful management of such issues is highlighted in some cases, these are generally isolated examples. In both cases, the fact that stability or outbreak issues are often caused or exacerbated by extreme rainfall events highlights a potential future management issue with the predicted effects of climate change in north west Europe

Mynydd Parys & Afon Goch

I am the founding member of the artist-led collective Environmental Resistance. This publication combines photographs of an abandoned copper mine ('Parys Mine' or 'Mynydd Parys') in Anglesey, and an eco-toxic river of leachate emerging from the same mine (the Afon Goch River), with mineral sample results taken from within the frame of the image at the time of making the photograph. The Mynydd Parys & Afon Goch publication represents an attempt to visualise the scientific process, using multimodal design techniques, in order to promote the need for environmental remediation of abandoned metal mine sites in the UK and beyond

Constructed wetlands for steel slag leachate management: Partitioning of arsenic, chromium, and vanadium in waters, sediments, and plants

© 2019 The Authors Constructed wetlands can treat highly alkaline leachate resulting from the weathering of steel slag before reuse (e.g. as aggregate)or during disposal in repositories and legacy sites. This study aimed to assess how metal(loid)s soluble at high pH, such as arsenic (As), chromium (Cr), and vanadium (V)are removed in constructed wetlands and how they accumulate in the sediments and the plants (Phragmites australis, common reed). The results show that reedbeds were very effective at removing calcium (98%), aluminium (81%), barium (98%), chromium (90%), gallium (80%), nickel (98%), and zinc (98%), and lowering pH and alkalinity. No statistical difference was found for As and V between leachate influent and wetland samples, showing that these metal(loid)s were not efficiently removed. As, Cr, and V were significantly higher in the reedbed sediments than in a reference site. However, sediment concentrations are not at levels that would pose a concern regarding reuse for agricultural purposes (average values of 39 ± 26 mg kg −1 for As, 108 ± 15 mg kg −1 for Cr, and 231 ± 34 mg kg −1 for V). Also, there is no significant uptake of metals by the aboveground portions of the reeds compared to reference conditions. Results show statistically significant enrichment in metal(loid)s in rhizomes and also a seasonal effect on the Cr concentrations. The data suggest minimal risk of oxyanion-forming element uptake and cycling in wetlands receiving alkaline steel slag

The impact of pumped water from a de-watered Magnesian limestone quarry on an adjacent wetland: Thrislington, County Durham, UK

Although quarrying is often cited as a potential threat to wetland systems, there is a lack of relevant, quantitative case studies in the literature. The impact of pumped groundwater discharged from a quarry into a wetland area was assessed relative to reference conditions in an adjacent fen wetland that receives only natural runoff. Analysis of vegetation patterns at the quarry wetland site, using Detrended Correspondence Analysis and the species indicator values of Ellenberg, revealed a clear disparity between community transitions in the quarry wetland and the reference site. Limited establishment of moisture-sensitive taxa, the preferential proliferation of robust wetland species and an overall shift towards lower species diversity in the quarry wetland were explicable primarily by the physico-chemical environment created by quarry dewatering. This encompassed high pH (up to 12.8), sediment-rich effluent creating a nutrient-poor substrate with poor moisture retention in the quarry wetland, and large fluctuations in water levels. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

The old municipal chambers building: damaged but nor destroyed : will it be there in another 125 years?

The Old Municipal Chambers is a Category I heritage building situated in Worcester Street, Christchurch. It was designed by architect Samuel Hurst Seager in the Queen Anne Arts and Crafts Style and was opened in 1887. The two storey building is constructed in solid brick and incorporates several decorative features, and it is an important part of the cultural heritage fabric of Christchurch. Some securing works were undertaken in 1989 to improve its performance under seismic loads. This paper will outline damage during the earthquake on 4 September 2010, subsequent aftershocks and the 22 February 2011 earthquake which resulted in some localised zones of collapse. The structure of the building has been stabilised externally, to secure or allow retrieval of very significant heritage features. The high cost to repair the building makes the future of the building uncertain despite its very significant heritage value.In response to the building’s seismic vulnerability and possible retrofitting, finite element and simplified equivalent frame models were used for pushover analysis, enabling a complementary seismic evaluation from both approaches. The predictions identify the weak parts of the building and its expected failure modes, which are in agreement with the observed damage. The computations appear conservative, because the computed capacity curves provide insufficient capacity of the building to survive the recorded earthquakes. Given that there was uncertainty on the constitution of the floors, they were assumed as unidirectional by default, bidirectional diaphragm floors were also simulated in the simplified model, reflecting the securing works undertaken in 1990. In this case, a significantly better behaviour is observed. This paper will examine the seismic performance of the building, comparing results of analysis including both in-plane and out-of-plane behaviour, with actual damage. It will then consider conceptual scenarios for the future of the building, including comparison of performance and cost of both conventional and base isolation retrofit

A GIS-Based Prioritisation of Coastal Legacy Mine Spoil Deposits in England and Wales for Effective Future Management

Increases in coastal flooding and erosion due to climate change threaten many coastal mine waste deposits in the UK. As such, a robust approach to prioritising sites for management is required. A spatial dataset of 9094 mine spoil deposits in England and Wales was analysed against coastal erosion and flood projections to identify deposits most at-risk. Of these, 58 were at risk of tidal flooding and 33 of coastal erosion over the coming century. Within the 10 highest-priority deposits, 426,283 m3 of spoil was at risk of release by erosion, with Blackhall Colliery (County Durham) being the largest predicted contributor

Concert recording 2013-11-19

[Track 01]. Western fanfare / Eric Ewazen -- [Track 02]. Little sketches / Ivan Elozovic -- [Track 03]. Preludium / Krysztof Penderecki -- [Track 04]. Abime des oiseaux from Quatour pour la fin du temps / Olivier Messiaen -- [Track 05]. Scherzino / Walter Hartley -- [Track 06]. Quintet for winds, no. 2. II ; [Track 07]. III / David Maslanka -- [Track 08]. String quartet, no. 3. III / Dmitri Shostakovich

The Lsm2-8 complex determines nuclear localization of the spliceosomal U6 snRNA

Lsm proteins are ubiquitous, multifunctional proteins that are involved in the processing and/or turnover of many, if not all, RNAs in eukaryotes. They generally interact only transiently with their substrate RNAs, in keeping with their likely roles as RNA chaperones. The spliceosomal U6 snRNA is an exception, being stably associated with the Lsm2-8 complex. The U6 snRNA is generally considered to be intrinsically nuclear but the mechanism of its nuclear retention has not been demonstrated, although La protein has been implicated. We show here that the complete Lsm2-8 complex is required for nuclear accumulation of U6 snRNA in yeast. Therefore, just as Sm proteins effect nuclear localization of the other spliceosomal snRNPs, the Lsm proteins mediate U6 snRNP localization except that nuclear retention is the likely mechanism for the U6 snRNP. La protein, which binds only transiently to the nascent U6 transcript, has a smaller, apparently indirect, effect on U6 localization that is compatible with its proposed role as a chaperone in facilitating U6 snRNP assembly

Concert recording 2013-03-28

[Track 01]. Fanfares liturgiques. Procession du Vendredi-Saint / Henri Tomasi -- [Track 02]. The good soldier Schweik suite. Overture / Robert Kurka -- [Track 03]. The good soldier Schweik suite. Lament / Robert Kurka -- [Track 04]. The good soldier Schweik suite. March / Robert Kurka -- [Track 05]. The good soldier Schweik suite. War Dance / Robert Kurka -- [Track 06]. The good soldier Schweik suite. Pastoral / Robert Kurka -- [Track 07]. The good soldier Schweik suite. Finale / Robert Kurka -- [Track 08]. Serenade no. 11 in E flat major, KV 375. Allegro maestoso / Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart -- [Track 09]. Prelude, fugue and riffs / Leonard Bernstein

Observation of associated near-side and away-side long-range correlations in √sNN=5.02 TeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector

Two-particle correlations in relative azimuthal angle (Δϕ) and pseudorapidity (Δη) are measured in √sNN=5.02  TeV p+Pb collisions using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using approximately 1  μb-1 of data as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the transverse energy (ΣETPb) summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. The correlation function, constructed from charged particles, exhibits a long-range (2<|Δη|<5) “near-side” (Δϕ∼0) correlation that grows rapidly with increasing ΣETPb. A long-range “away-side” (Δϕ∼π) correlation, obtained by subtracting the expected contributions from recoiling dijets and other sources estimated using events with small ΣETPb, is found to match the near-side correlation in magnitude, shape (in Δη and Δϕ) and ΣETPb dependence. The resultant Δϕ correlation is approximately symmetric about π/2, and is consistent with a dominant cos⁡2Δϕ modulation for all ΣETPb ranges and particle pT