Remediation of coal ash disposal sites (RECOAL)

 

Summary

Large areas of the West Balkan region are affected by coal ash deposits from thermoelectric power stations, which can impact negatively on human health through three pathways:

• Release of drainage waters from coal ash deposit sites may contaminate water supplies
• Heavy metals in coal ash deposits used for agriculture can enter the food chain
• Dust dispersion by wind erosion on uncovered sites by may affect the health and wellbeing of local people.

The overall aim of the RECOAL programme is to develop and test new methods for remediation of coal ash deposits and affected water resources in the West Balkan region, with a particular focus on Tuzla Municipality, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Special emphasis is being placed on socio-economic aspects of the problem and its remediation through stakeholder involvement.

Forest Research is responsible for the social science inputs to the programme, including:

• Initial stakeholder analysis
• Impact assessment of different remediation options
• The development of decision support tools for use by local governance stakeholders.

Executive summary for overall programme (2005) ^(PDF-340K)

Research objectives

The technologies to be developed are based upon research conducted in both laboratory conditions and at the field scale in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

• The programme will identify, develop and evaluate conventional and new low-cost technologies to clean-up contaminated water bodies and effluents from deposits
• Techniques will be developed to immobilise heavy metals using various amendments, and to reduce the transfer of toxic metals to groundwater and to the air by establishing optimum soil cover
• Crops with low metal uptake rates will be selected to allow safe agriculture on remediated coal ash sites.

Funders and partners

This programme is funded by the European Union - Framework Programme FP6

The consortium comprises seven partners:

• BOKU – University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria (Coordinator)
• HEIS: Hydro-Engineering Institute, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH)
• University of Banja Luka, BiH
• University of Zagreb, Croatia
• Brandenburg University of Technology at Cottbus, Germany
• Forest Research, UK
• Thermo-electric power plant, Tuzla, BiH

Forest Research involvement

The Social and Economic Research Group of Forest Research is responsible for social science inputs to the programme:

• In the first year, an extensive stakeholder analysis was carried out, as part of the overall management of stakeholders from the Thermo-Electric Power plant in Tuzla, Cantonal and Municipal officials responsible for spatial planning and environmental protection, and local communities living in and around existing deposit sites.
• Priorities in the second year include impact assessment of different remediation options.
• In the final year FR will lead the development of decision support tools for use by local governance stakeholders.

The fieldwork is proving to be an excellent test case in which to develop new methodologies and decision support tools which integrate social research with the natural sciences. It is expected that these will be applicable to other applied natural resource research projects in UK and Europe, in particular those involving the reclamation of brownfield sites.

Forest Research inputs are currently being managed by Claudia Carter with support from local consultants and NGOs. Vanesa Castan Broto, an Eng.D student attached to FR and Surrey University, is also working with the project to research the social construction of environmental problems.

Status

The programme commenced in January 2005, and runs until December 2007.

Contact

Claudia Carter
Forest Research
Alice Holt Lodge
Farnham
Surrey GU10 4LH

Tel: 01420 526191
Fax: 01420 520558
Email: claudia.carter@forestry.gsi.gov.uk

EU contract details

Coordinator : Walter.Wenzel@boku.ac.at, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences Vienna, Austria, Institute of Soil Science.
 
Type of Instrument: Specific Targeted Research Project (STREP)
Call Identifier: FP6-2002-INCO-WBC-1