Conceptual Modelling Serving an Integrated Environmental Approach of Jiu River Basin - Main Pressures and Impacts, Conceptual Model

G2G.nl-short Programme, including Environmental Facility for New Member States (NMS), Candidate Countries (CC), Potential Candidate Countries (PCC) and other eligible countries

REPORT no. 3. Conceptual modelling serving an integrated environmental approach of Jiu River Basin - Main Pressures and Impacts, Conceptual model

- draft version 1.1 for internal use only ; working document-

Integrated Solutions for Soil and Water Problems (ISSWaP) General Framework and Application to Jiu river basin in Romania

Bodem+, on behalf of The Netherlands Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, The Netherlands

In cooperation with Ministry of Environment - Romania

April 2010

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Colofon

Title : Integrated Solutions for Soil and Water Problems (ISSWaP)

: Conceptual Modelling and Main Pressures and Impacts for Jiu River Basin (Romania)

Project number :

Revision : Version 1.1

Date : 26 March 2010

Authors : Remco van Ek, Ebel Smidt, Frank Vliegenthart

E-mail :

Project director : Ton Honders

E-mail :

Client : EVD - G2G short programme

Stakeholders : Ministries of Environment in Romania and the Netherlands, Public Sector and Private Sector at the Jiu River Basin

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Table of contents

1 Introduction ...... 5

2 Jiu River Basin ...... 7

3 Pressures and Impacts...... 9 3.1 Open pit mining...... 10 3.2 Power plants and other point sources...... 11 3.3 Fly-ash depots...... 14 3.4 Urban areas ...... 16 3.5 Diffuse sources ...... 17 3.6 River system ...... 18 3.7 Groundwater ...... 18 3.8 Nature/Ecosystems ...... 20

4 Conceptual model Fly-ash deposits ...... 21

5 Conclusions ...... 25

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1 Introduction

In the meeting at 12th October 2009 with the ISSWaP team and project director data collection tasks were distributed. Under the heading of ‘An Integrated Environmental Approach’ activity c2 was defined as a schematic overview of most important processes, preferably with an indication on the data of the quantities involved. This note contains this overview (see figures on page 9 and 20) , and puts this overview in a sys- tematic approach of the conceptual models used in the project. It therefore bridges the data collection phase, the conceptual modeling phase and the phase of solution scop- ing.

For the ISSWaP project we distinguish three levels of conceptual modelling:

1. The overall design of the project: the conceptual model behind the process is inspired by the process at work in the EU to exchange experiences with groundwater and soil management in the interface between technical, organizational and political developments (see amongst others Philip Quevauviller, 2008. Groundwater Science and Policy).

2. The River Basin Management Plan (RMBP) concept which is based on a commonly accepted integrated environmental and economic approach at a European level. The Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the Groundwater Directive (GWD) provide a conceptual model for environmental problems within a river basin.

3. The conceptual model used to describe the environmental effects of fly-ash dumps with emphasis on how to effectively monitor and study the processes at stake focusing at the effects on the groundwater.

This note further focuses on the second and third type of conceptual model.

The River Basin Management Plan (RMBP) is based on a commonly accepted integrated environmental and economic approach at a European level. The WFD provides a conceptual model for environmental problems within a river basin. As far as we have understood the present version of the Jiu RBMP contains at this moment only little information on the effects of the mining industry and power plants on the water systems (and ecosystems). Hence, the aim of our project should be to prepare information in such way the problem will be included in the next version of the RBMP. This should be achieved before the next implementation period 2015-2021. All measures that could be implemented earlier are welcomed, but we better can be realistic and be happy if more research can be done between 2010 and 2013, having the plans ready by 2013-2014. However if we can clarify that real risks exist it will be more easy to get things higher on the political agenda.

From the point of view of River Basin Management the coal mines and power plants are causing a number of risks:

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Introduction

1. large scale and local changes in the quantitative water regime; 2. large scale and local changes in the qualitative water regime (possibly concerning radioactivity, heavy metals, sulphates, acidity etc.); 3. health risks related to dust originating from the mines, the sterile dumps, the power plants and the fly-ash depots either directly inhaled by humans and livestock or entering the soil and taken up by plants or entering water wells or the rivers; 4. health risks related to the leakage of water from the ash depots; 5. ecological risks caused by the processes described under 1 to 3; 6. risks related to failure of protection dams at the ash depots.

Especially risks 1, 2, 4 and 5 are related to the WFD and relevant to be quantified in the RBMP.

Setup of a good and accurate conceptual model is important to fully understand the problems in the area (see EU CIS Guidance on Risk Assessment and the Use of Con- ceptual Models for Groundwater, final draft, 2010). The fly-ash depots are expected to have an impact on the groundwater quality. Both the WFD and the GWD requires no deterioration of the groundwater bodies. Main pollution sources (point- and diffuse sources) are expected to be included in the RBMP and should be described.

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2 Jiu River Basin

Romania, a country of 237,391 km2 and over 21,794,793 inhabitants, is almost entirely situated within the Danube Basin (97.4%). The Romanian section represents 29% of the surface area of the whole Basin, with 37.7% of the river flowing through its territory. The Romanian (and also Ukrainian) Danube is the end carrier of all wastewater dis- charges from upstream countries to the Black Sea.

A large number of upper and middle water courses are situated on the Romanian territory and the Tisa, Prut and Danube Rivers are forming parts of Romanian border. Wa- ter resources from the in-land rivers are about 40 billions m3 which represents 20% out of Danube River water resources.

Figure 2.1 Danube River Basin District

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Jiu River Basin

Romania is divided into 12 sub River basins or hydrographic basins. A hydrographic basin is the entire geographical area drained by a river and its tributaries; an area characterized by all runoff being conveyed to the same outlet. Jiu River Basin is one of them, see table below fora n overview of all hydrographic basins in Romania.

Nr.crt. Basins / Areas Surface (Km2) % from Romania surface 1. Somes - Tisa 22.380 9,42 2. Crisuri 14.860 6,30 3. Mures 28.022 11,80 4. Banat 18.611 7,84 5. Jiu 16.734 7,05 6. Olt 24.050 10,13 7. Arges Vedea 22.039 9,28 8. Ialomita Buzau 22.289 9,40 9. Siret 28.678 12,08 10. Prut 20.328 8,56 11. Dobrogea Litoral 12.615 5,31 12. Danube, Delta, coastal waters 8.011 - TOTAL Romania 237.391 100

Figure 2.2 Hydrographic basins of Romania

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3 Pressures and Impacts

This chapter will describe important “Pressures and Impacts” of the Jiu Hydrographic basin, based on the data collected within the project. Figure 3.1 gives an overview of the most important “Pressures and Impacts” of the conceptual model.

Figure 3.1 Main Pressures for Jiu River Basin (red box = pressures, blue+green box = impacts)

In the conceptual model we distinguished 8 main Pressures and Impacts, which are: 1. Open pit mining: dust, radioactivity (?), groundwater pumping, instable sterile deposits 2. Power plants/industrial zones: air and ground pollution with a variety of substances, point sources 3. Fly-ash depots: dust, groundwater pollution, water logging 4. Urban area: untreated waste water, polluted drinking water 5. Agricultural area: fertilizers and pesticides, diffuse pollution sources 6. River system: siltation, disordered water balance, municipal and industrial wastewater 7. Groundwater / wells: different types of pollution 8. Nature/Ecosystems: disorder, threat of quality

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Pressures and Impacts

All “Pressures and Impacts” will be described briefly in following sections. The descrip- tion is based on data collected within the frame of this project and described in the data collection report (“Integrated Solutions for Soil and Water Problems (ISSWaP), General Framework and Application to Jiu river basin in Romania, Collected data”).

3.1 Open pit mining Within the project area there are two main mining areas: Turceni-Jilt and Rovinari. In these mines lignite is excavated for the production of energy in power plants.

Fig 3.2 The Rovinari Coal Mine area. Red indicates active open pit mining areas.

Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft brown fuel with characteristics that put it somewhere between coal and peat. It is considered the lowest rank of coal. ; it is used almost exclusively as a fuel for steam-electric power generation. Lignite is brownish-black in color and has a carbon content of around 25-35%, a high inherent moisture content sometimes as high as 66%, and an ash content ranging from 6% to 19% compared with 6% to 12% for bituminous coal.

The heat content of lignite ranges from 10 to 20 MJ/kg (9 to 17 million Btu per short ton) on a moist, mineral-matter-free basis. Lignite has a high content of volatile matter which makes it easier to convert into gas and liquid petroleum products than higher ranking coals. However, its high moisture content and susceptibility to spontaneous combustion can cause problems in transportation and storage. Because of its low energy density, brown coal is inefficient to transport and is not traded extensively on the world market compared with higher coal grades. It is often burned in power stations constructed very close to any mines.

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Pressures and Impacts

Turceni-JilĠ Coal Mine is an open-pit mining exploitation, one of the largest in Romania located in MăWăsari, Gorj County. The legal entity managing the JilĠ mine is the National Company of Lignite Oltenia which was set up in 1997. The exploitation has two open pits JilĠ Sud and JilĠ Nord that produced 4.3 million tonnes of lignite in 2009. The mine has around 2,400 workers and is endowed with 15 bucket-wheel excavators, seven spreaders, two mixed machines and one deposit spreader. The total proven recoverable reserves of the mine amount to 285.8 million tonnes of lignite. The obtained coal production is transported to the Turceni Power Plant on railroad CF Dragoteúti - Tur- ceni.

Rovinari Coal Mine is an open-pit mining exploitation, the largest in Romania, located in Rovinari, Gorj County. The legal entity managing the Rovinari mine is also the Na- tional Company of Lignite Oltenia. The exploitation has four open pits Tismana I, Tis- mana II, Gârla - Rovinari Est and Pinoasa that produced 6.3 million tonnes of lignite in 2009. The mine has around 2,500 workers and is endowed with 23 bucket-wheel excavators, 14 spreaders, three mixed machines and one deposits spreader. The total proven recoverable reserves of the mine amount to 180 million tonnes of lignite.

Other lignite mines in the area are: x Motru: The exploitation has two open pits Lupoaia, RoúiuĠa that produced 6.6 million tonnes of lignite in 2008; x Roúia – Peúteana: The exploitation has three open pits Roúia, Peúteana Nord, Peúteana Sud-Urdar that produced 7.2 million tonnes of lignite in 2008; x Mehedinti-Husnicioara: The exploitation has two open pits Husnicioara – Vest and Zegujani that produced 3.1 million tonnes of lignite in 2008.

Overview Lignite mined in Romania (in millions of metric tons) 1970 1980 1990 2000 2001 Romania 14.100 27.100 33.500 17.900 29.800

The most evident negative environmental effects of mining industry, also affecting the economic and social factors in the assessed area, are: x Gradual land occupation, during the development of mining zones, by the exploitation itself, mining dumps, access ways, etc. x Definitive or temporary occupation of various surfaces, affecting the hydrographic reserves and the natural features. Steril dumps can to be unstable in periods with high rainfall and landslides have caused loss of infrastructure (roads). x Surface and underground water pollution: residual waters from the mining industry, due to their noxious emissions, generate general water depletion and also flora and fauna destruction. Water evacuated by the draining installations of mining concentrating plants are most impure, containing phenols, cyanides, salts of alkaline and alkaline-earth metals, ions of heavy metals (Fe, Cu, Mn, Hg, etc.) and oil products. x Air pollution: The open pits and concentrating plants produce serious effects of air pollution and dust. x Changing of hydrographic conditions.

3.2 Power plants and other point sources Within the project area there are 4-5 large and important power plants (see fig 3.3): x Romag Termo; x Turceni; x Rovinari; x Craiova I & II.

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Pressures and Impacts

Fig 3.3 Location of the main power plants within the Jiu River Basin.

The Turceni Power Station is Romania's largest electricity producer and one of the largest thermal power plants in Europe having 7 identical groups of 330 MW each thus totalling an installed capacity of 2,310 MW (7,310 MW installed power). It uses coal from JilĠ Coal Mine and Tehomir underground mine. The power plant is situated in the Gorj County (South-Western Romania), on the banks of the Jiu River, half way between the cities of Craiova and Târgu Jiu.

The Rovinari Power Station is another large electricity producer in Romania, having 4 groups of 330 MW each and 2 groups of 200 MW each, thus totalling an installed capacity of 1,720 MW. The power plant is undergoing modernisation works, which will add a new 500 MW group at a total cost of US$ 600 million. After the modernisation, the power plant will have a total installed capacity of 2,220 MW. Other important works include the fitting of several sulphur filters at the existing power groups at a total cost of US$ 250 million. The power plant is situated in the Gorj County (South-Western Roma- nia) on the banks of the Jiu River near Târgu Jiu.

The IúalniĠa Power Station (or Craiova I) is a large thermal power plant located in Iúal- niĠa, Dolj County having 8 generation groups, 3 of 50 MW, 1 of 55 MW, 2 of 100 MW and 2 groups of 315 MW having a total electricity generation capacity of 1,035 MW.

The Craiova II Power Station is a large thermal power plant located in Craiova, having 2 generation groups of 150 MW each having a total electricity generation capacity of 300 MW. There are plans to add another generating group of 150 MW at Craiova II Power Station that will result a total power generating capacity of 450 MWh at a cost of US$ 225 million.

The power plants make use of the lignite to produce their power. The burning of the lignite creates a residue called Fly Ash. Fly ash is generally captured from the chim- neys of coal-fired power plants, and is one of two types of ash that jointly are known as coal ash; the other, bottom ash, is removed from the bottom of coal furnaces. Depend- ing upon the source and makeup of the coal being burned, the components of fly ash

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Pressures and Impacts

vary considerably, but all fly ash includes substantial amounts of silicon dioxide (SiO2) (both amorphous and crystalline) and calcium oxide (CaO), both being endemic ingre- dients in many coal bearing rock strata.

Toxic constituents depend upon the specific coal bed makeup, but may include one or more of the following elements or substances in quantities from trace amounts to several percent: arsenic, beryllium, boron, cadmium, chromium, chromium VI, cobalt, lead, manganese, mercury, molybdenum, selenium, strontium, thallium, and vanadium, along with dioxins and PAH compounds. In the past, fly ash was generally released into the atmosphere, but pollution control equipment mandated in recent decades now require that it be captured prior to release.

Figure 3.4 Fly ash particles at 2,000x magnification (source: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/PAVEMENT/recycling/fach01.cfm)

In Romania Fly ash is not recycled but stored in surface reservoirs. The power plants are also equipped with desulphurization installations with gypsum (CaSO4) as a bi-product. The water used for transport of fly ash slurry has high contents of Ca and SO4 which leak into the groundwater system. Section 3.3 will give more details and explana- tion on the fly ash reservoirs.

Another problem with power plants is the air pollution. However, air pollution greatly depends on the filters installed.

Other point sources in the Jiu River Basin are defined under Industrial and agricultural pollution sources. These sources contribute to pollution of organic nutrients (food industry, chemical industry, fertilizers, pulp and paper, livestock farms, etc..) heavy metals (mining and quarrying and process- ing industry chemical, etc..) and dangerous organic micropollutants (organic chemical industry, industry oil, etc..). Figure 3.5 Significant point sources of pollution,

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Pressures and Impacts

3.3 Fly-ash depots All power plants described in section 3.2 do have Fly-ash depots in their vicinity.

Fly ashes with a fine granulation are evacuated to the depots through a hydraulic transport process in which the fly ashes are mixed with water. The hydraulic transport process needs a water-fly ash report of 9:1. Because of this very great volume of water, the fly ashes modify their chemical activity as a result of passing of chemical solu- ble compounds in the watery solution and from here in the environment. This fact leads to a significant pollution of the environment and also to the development of dirt heaps with reduced physical and chemical characteristics. The water gets polluted by heavy metals and other substances which can infiltrate through the depot into the groundwater.

Another technique is called the dense slam technology. This technique includes the transport of the fly ashes to the storage reservoir using a fly ash-water content of 1:1. In this way far less water can infiltrate in the soil. At the same time the fly ash is getting a significant increasing of the active chemical compounds that have as result a new cemented structure of the fly ashes, with improved physical and chemical characteristics.

CET-I

Power plant ,úalniĠa or CET-I

CET-II

Figure 3.6 Fly ash dumps near Craiova

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Pressures and Impacts

Main components of the fly ash are SiO2, Fe2O3, Al2O3, CaO, MgO, K2O, Na2O and little SO42- and Cl- .

In 1999, the radioactivity of coal, fly ash and soil near Romag-Termo was tested by the National Uranium Company in Bucharest, in their Laboratory for Radio-Physical Analy- sis. Results are included in table below. Also at Craiova results like below have been found.

-4 -14 -4 U238 X 10 Ra226x 10 Th232x 10 K Motru coal 1 34 2 0.3 Zegujani coal 1 34 2 0.3 Valea Copcii coal 2 34 3 0.3 Rough ash 13 360 11 1.15 Fine ash 17 435 12 1.41 Soil 3 102 5 1.29

The fly ash in Rovinari has been tested on radioactivity as well. The ash includes 140±30Bq/kg while the soil includes 110±30Bq/kg.

In the Rovinari fly ash following heavy metals were detected (as reported by Rovinari power plant): x Cu 24-57 ppm; x Zn 42-70.5 ppm; x Pb 24-41 ppm; x Co 16-30 ppm; x Mn 48-122 ppm; x Cd 0.65-1.45 ppm.

Extensive literature is available on groundwater pollution resulting from fly ash depots. This mainly includes heavy metals and in some occasion radioactivity. Within the frame of this project we do not have taken any samples for radioactivity. Some wells around Rovinari fly ash dump were analysed on conductivity, pH, sulphate and iron total. Re- sults are included in table below.

Monitoring results 02 February 2010

Canal Sat Preaplin Foraj Beterega Poiana Apa recirculata F3 Conductivity uS/cm 1254 594 1680 693 pH 7.97 7.05 6.59 6.85 Sulfate mg/l 312.5 93.6 321 205 Iron total mg/l 0.174

LQ=0.090 no. 1 - is the F3 monitoring well (Foraj F3) no. 2 - channel for overflow discharged from dump (Preaplin Apa Recirculata) no. 3 - drainage channel Beterega (Canal Beterega) no. 4 - is a fountain in an ex-village Poiana-not affected by the ash dumps- is the control sample- represent the natural background of the region (Sat Poiana)

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Pressures and Impacts

Figure 3.7 Wells used for monitoring February 2010

Dust is another problem for fly ash depots. Especially in summer, the fly ash is dried out. On most of the fly ash dumps there is no vegetation so during strong winds the fly ash is getting into the air and spread all over the area. This is a serious problem as it spread all pollutants included in the fly ash, especially in urban areas but also for agricultural lands.

3.4 Urban areas According to the Urban wastewater Di- rective (91/271/EEC) urban wastewater should be collected and transported to a waste water treatment plant (wwtp). After treatment this water can be discharged to the surface water system. Romania obtained a transition period for implementation of this Directive and has to comply with it by 31 December 2018. At the moment there are a lot of human agglomerations that do not comply with the requirements set in the Urban WWD, they do not have a collection system and / or wastewater treatment plant. Biologi- cal treatment and nutrient removal is also not installed in all wwtp.

Urban sewage water contain suspended solids, organic substances and nutrients, but also other pollutants like heavy metals, detergents, petroleum hydrocarbons, organic micropollutants, etc. In the Jiu River basin there are 225 human ag-

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Pressures and Impacts

glomerations (with minimally 2000 inhabitants). There are no (0) agglomerations (with less than 2000 inhabitants) connected to a centralized collection system. The total organic load from the agglomerations >2000 inhabitants is about 2 million i.e.

At the moment there are 8 wwtp’s in the Jiu River Basin. Only 2 of them do comply with all the legislative requirements. Table below gives an overview of the calculated substances (organic matter and nutrients) released into the surface water for the year 2007 (in tons/year).

Organic Organic Substances Substances (COD-Cr) (BOD-5) Nitrate Phosphate

Total 9290,751 4036,241 2069,006 888,5

3.5 Diffuse sources According to the Corine Land Cover map, the majority of the land is occupied with for- ests, arable land and agricultural areas. Urban and industrial areas cover an area of 5.94% of the total catchment of Jiu.

Main categories of diffuse pollution sources are: x human agglomerations / towns that do not have waste water collecting systems or appropriate sludge disposal treatment stations. Also domestic landfills are into this category; x Agriculture: Livestock farms that are not appropriate for the storage and use of ma- nure. Also farms within vulnerable areas or potential vulnerable to pollution from nitrates (agricultural sources). Farms not using pesticides conform to current legisla- tion and other farms/activities that can that can lead to a significant diffuse emission. x Industry: deposits of raw materials, finished products, auxiliary products, compliant waste storage, units that produce diffuse pollution accidents, abandoned industrial sites.

Inappropriate waste management in villages is a local source of pollution. The collection of sludge from sewage plants is also a problem which leads to diffuse pollution of water resources.

Agricultural activities can also lead to pollution of water resources. Nutrients and Pesti- cides are leaking into water sources through surface drainage systems, percolation etc. Diffuse pollution is coming from: x storage and use of organic and chemical fertilizers; x Increasing domestic animals; x Use of pesticides. The most important sources for diffuse pollution are located within settlements in vulnerable areas (related to Nitrate Directive). Chemical fertilizers used in 2006 were

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Pressures and Impacts

about 10% higher compared to 2002. The average level of Nitrate used was 6.910 kg N / ha and 1.410 kilograms P per hectare. Use of fertilizer is still well below the average EU level.

Approximately 62% of the total diffuse emission is due to urban settlements. Agriculture contributed only for a small part.

3.6 River system Main pressures in the river sytem are related to hydro-morphological pressures. Within the Jiu River Basin there are a total of 170 bad sectors where the river is regulated on a total length of 712.1 km. There are 43 structures in the river and a total of 190 dams.

Other accumulations were built with multiple purposes: supply drinking and industrial water, energy and flood defense. There are three important hydropower stations In river basins of the rivers Motru (Ac. Valley High), Bistrita (Ac. Vaja and Clocotis) and Tismana (Ac. Tismana-output). Finally 8 structures take water out of the river for industrial purposes or to regulate the flow.

Most significant pressures come from water abstraction for the power plants. These are: x Rovinari (Qprelevat = 7.790 m3/s; x Turceni (Qprelevat = 8.842 m3/s; x Craiova-Branch Electrocentrale Insalnita (Qprelevat = 2.401 m3/s. This pressure is considered (in the Water Framework Directive report) only a temporar- ily disruption as most of the water is returned to the river system again.

Additional hydro-morphological changes will come from future proposed projects for navigation, energy production, electronics, defense against floods, dams and settle- ment. These projects are in various stages of planning and implementation. However, these projects should have to comply with Water Framework Directive.

The Jiu River Basin has a total of 58 water users (including 18 with impact on the Da- nube river) which can cause accidental pollution into the river. In general, these sources of pollution are using, producing, storing or emptying substances which may accidentally get into contact with the water resources. In 2007 11 accidents happened , in the Jiu River Basin which caused pollution of the surface water courses. Of these, 3 had a transboundary impact; the others only had a local and limited impact.

3.7 Groundwater Groundwater bodies are classified into porous, fractured and karst. The status of a groundwater body was a central criteria in the delineation process. In the Jiu basin a total of eight groundwater bodies have been described. Most groundwater bodies, namely ROJI01 (Neag's field - Petrila / Depression Petrosani), ROJI02 (Closani-Bath Amara / Mehedinti Plateau), ROJI03 (Tismana-Dobrita/Muntii Valcan) and ROJI04 (Varciorova-Nadanova-Ponoarele / Mehedinti Plateau) are of the type of karst-fissure (limestone, sandstones). Two bodies of groundwater (ROJI05 and ROJI06) were identi- fied in the meadow area of the Jiu basin and along the terraces of the Danube. Here porous and permeable alluvial deposits developed from Quaternary age.

Groundwater body ROJI05 (Jiu’s meadow and terraces) and Groundwater body ROJI06 (Danube’s meadow and terraces) are both in poor status.

In Groundwater body ROJI05 the water abstraction from Marica locality, RA Water Craiova property is constituted of 86 wells’ shafts that constitute a drain that is exploit- ing a volume of 7884 thousand m³/year. Rovinari water abstraction is constituted of 13

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Pressures and Impacts

drillings from which is obtained a volume of 2142 thousand m³/year. Following the mining works performed, on certain portions of underground water body, ROJI05- Jiu’s meadow and terraces and its tributaries, it were found decreases of piezometric level.

Groundwaterbody ROJI06 can be considered at risk from qualitative point of view towards the specific indicators NH4, NO3. Chemical analysis are available of groundwater taken at a depth of 50 – 100 meters or more. Before intensive agriculture nitrites and ammonium were absent and nitrate was found in some wells. In the period 1970 to 1982 agriculture became more intensive. For the village Amarstii maximum concentra- tion of nitrates were 80 mg/l but measurements in 1980-1981 showed values of 281 mg/l. Over a wide region in the Oltenia plain analysis now shows NO3 concentrations of 80 to 400 mg/l and at some locations even exceeding 600 mg/l.

Figure 3.7 Chemical status of groundwater bodies in the Jiu river basin (Slaba = poor status)

In the South (in the Oltenia Plain), waters from ROJI07 has high values for NH4, for example 20.9 mg/l in F Greenhouses Isalnita, and 35 mg/l in Mihaita-Predesti. In the area also the Rosia, Rovinari E, Plostina mines are present whose bottom level can be found at about 100 m under the Jiu river riverbed. In the Rosia mine 34 million m3 of groundwater was abstracted in 2008. In 2007 the groundwaterquality was monitored at 10 locations. Four of the locations showed exceeded values for NH4 (Urzicuta, Stanesti), NO3 (Bratovoesti) and NO2 (Butoiesti), but these have been attributed to some local activities (agricultural activities). ROJI07 was considered as not at risk.

Due to water abstraction nearby the mining areas (for dewatering the mines) the water table nearby surrounding villages is often too low and existing wells are no longer pro- ductive. For this reason most of these villages are or will be connected to a centralized drinking water system.

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Pressures and Impacts

3.8 Nature/Ecosystems Within the Jiu River basin there are a lot of groundwater bodies connected to surface water bodies or terrestrial ecosystems. Karst Ecosystems are typically examples of groundwater bodies connected to surface water bodies and/or to terrestrial ecosystems and include very typical fauna and flora. Such areas can be found in groundwater bodies of ROJI02, ROJI03 and ROJI04. Terrestrial ecosystems in the groundwater body ROJI06 (Meadow-Calafat Danube) are composed mainly of grasslands and aquatic vegetation, partly modified due to draining.

Table 3.1 Groundwater bodies connected to surface water bodies

Table 3.2 Groundwater bodies connected to terrestrial ecosystems

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4 Conceptual model Fly-ash deposits

The total reserve of coal, brown coal and lignite in Romania are sufficient to produce power for a period of 70 years. Each year an amount of 30-35 million t yr-1 is used for power production. The total reserve includes: x 1 Gt coal x Gt brown coal & lignite

90% of the coal and lignite reserves are located in the Oltenia region. 80% of the materials are excavated from open pits. Mining has started in the Oltenia region since 1957- 1958. Within Oltenia region major lignite deposits can be found in: x Rovinari x Motru x Jilt x Berbesti-Aliunu x Mehedinti

The power plant of SE Turceni (2003) is the largest lignite-fired power plant of Roma- nia. It is in operation since 1978 and has an operational capacity of 1260 MW. The power plant has more than 1.300 employees. Lignite used for the power production comes from associated mines as mentioned in table 4.1. The Turceni power plant is located on an important grid node of the energy network.

Table 4.1 Lignite Quantities to supply to Turceni (2004)

The Lignite production for the Turceni power plant is not subsidized. The boiler of the power plant is equipped with two electrostatic precipitators, each filtering half of the flue gas flow.

The Valea Ceplea deposit has a capacity of 33.000.000 m3 and covers an area of 250 ha (see also figure 4.1). Ashes from Turceni power plant are dumped in this deposit. In

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Conceptual model Fly-ash deposits

the neigbourhood a second deposit is available (reserve dumpsite) which has a capacity of 8.000.000 m3 and covers an area of 107 ha.

Figure 4.1 Power plant Turceni and fly ash deposits (including impacts)

The estimated depth of the Valea Ceplea deposit is 7,2 m, however this is an average value. Near to the dam the depth is between 50 and 70 m based on field observations.

Effects of transport by air and groundwater issues The fly ash deposit is a major source for fine particles and exceed admissible limits by factors, which may vary from 2 to 20 times the limits. The dust has also caused in- creased air erosion in municipalities. The ash deposit Valea Ceplea has affected the groundwater level in the nearby municipality of Turceni situated below the ash depo. Also high values for Ca, Mg and SO4 have been found in the local wells for drinking water. Localized pollution of the water with heavy metals occurs in the dump founda- tion, but groundwater contamination with heavy metals was not observed in the Turceni residential area. The chemical composition of the ash is partly described in table 4.2.

Table 4.2 Chemical composition of Turceni ashes

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Conceptual model Fly-ash deposits

The dams surrounding the ash deposit are sealed with a cover of Bentofix clay liners. Bentofix® Geosynthetic Clay Liners (GCLs) are industrially manufactured composite materials combining high swelling bentonite clay and geosynthetics for sealing applica- tions. They are generally used to replace or augment compacted clay liners. The hydraulic conductivity is in the range of < 5 x 10-11 m/s. The bottom of the ash deposit is most probably not sealed and therefore not protected against leaching of pollutants into the lower groundwater system.

The water, which is re-circulated within the dumpsite, has following characteristics. This water is infiltrating into the groundwater system.

pH 7,1 - 9 free CO2 17 - 30 mg/l Alkalinity “p” 0 milival/l Alkalinity “m” 1,4 - 2 mg/l Bicarbonates 80 130 mg/l Hardness, temporary 3,9 - 6 mg/l Hardness, permanent 60 - 80 °G Calcium 400 - 460 mg/l Magnesium 70 - 115 mg/l Chlorides 150 - 190 mg/l Sulphates 1100 - 1500 mg/l

Wastewater from house holds, condenser and chemical treatment plant at the Turceni site are directly discharged into the Jiu River. This wastwater also has relatively high total P contents. Upstream wastewater with high sediment loads (suspended solids 30- 70 mg/l) from the open cast mines are discharged into the Jiu river causing damage to hydropower installations. There are no measurements on radioactivity available for this site and it is unclear into what extent these compounds have spread into the soil and watersystems. If no measurements were done yet for the assessment of the radiation level at the two slag and ash dumps, as well as at open cast mines and sterile dumps, it might be recommended to perform at least a set of preliminary measurements in this field.

The environmental investment needs for Turceni power plant are estimated at approximately € 280-315 million. However, additional monitoring activities are recommended (heavy metals in topsoil, radioactivity in groundwater, etc) to ensure a cost- effective approach for the ecological rehabilitation of the area. On the long-term a transition towards sustainable energy production is recommended.

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Conceptual model Fly-ash deposits

Figure 4.2 Conceptual model of the Turceni power plant and fly ash deposits

Figure 4.3 Schematic diagram of the fly ash deposit Valea Ceplea near the Turceni power plant.

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5 Concluding remarks

1. The introduction of three levels of conceptual modelling in the ISSWaP project is a practical tool within the boundaries of the project. It allows on one hand for enough diver- gence in the process of searching for solutions and on the other hand it guides the way for practical solutions. 2. The level of concreteness of the chosen conceptual models varies and increases from the process level via the regional model to the model for a fly-ash dumpsite. Due to limited resources of the project the models are all elaborated on a quick-scan level. To really describe in a quantified manner the regional and local risks of the lignite and power plant activities in the Jiu River Basin more in depth analysis of the data an models will still be needed. 3. Nevertheless the models allow for concluding that the environmental impacts of the mining and power plant activities are extensive and call for no regret measures like di- minishing the deposition of fly-ashes and stimulating its reuse under a general policy of reuse of waste, greening and fixation of the topsoil of the fly-ash dumpsite near to popu- lated areas, monitoring of groundwater downstream the dumps etc.. However the available data does not allow the development of detailed models. Therefore a full risk assessment can not be performed in this project. 4. For the finalization of the project we will therefore follow two lines: a) listing and elaborating of no-regret solutions b) formulation of a follow-up project on risk assessment

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References

6 References

AgentschapNL-Bodem+ , 2010. ISSWaP Project Jiu River Basin Romenia, Data report. Technical report nr. 2.

Mueller, D., T. Track and W. Gevaerts (Leaders of drafting team), 2010. Guidance on Risk Assessment and the Use of Conceptual Models for Groundwater Version 1.0 (final draft). 26 March 2010.

Quevauviller, P. (Ed),, 2008. Groundwater Science and Policy.

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