Author 1:
Name & Surname: Ulrikh D. V.
Company: South Ural State University (Chelyabinsk, Russia)
Work Position: Associate Professor, Water Supply and Removal Department
Scientific Degree: Candidate of Engineering Sciences
Contacts: ulrich.dm.25@mail.ru

Author 2:
Name & Surname: Timofeeva S. S.
Company: Irkutsk National Research Technical University (Irkutsk, Russia)
Work Position: Head of Industrial Ecology and Safe Life Activity Department
Scientific Degree: Doctor of Engineering Sciences, Professor

Author 3:
Name & Surname: Denisov S. E.
Company: South Ural State University (Chelyabinsk, Russia)
Work Position: Head of Water Supply and Removal Department
Scientific Degree: Doctor of Engineering Sciences, Professor

Under discussion are mineral mining and processing plants that are hazardous for the environment and population health in the Chelyabinsk Region. The region holds more than three hundred deposits of a variety of minerals, namely, iron and copper ore, polymetals, nickel, bauxite, primary gold deposits and placers, rare-earth, titanium, chrome iron ore, coal, magnesite, vermiculite, kaolin, ornamental and precious stones, piezo-quartz, refractory materials. Sulfide ore deposits, apart from copper and zinc, contain gold, silver, rare metals (tellurium, germanium, cadmium, selenium, indium and gallium), as well as sulfur and barium sulfates. Three areas exposed to the heaviest ecological load in the Region are identified. A detail discussion involves the past ecological damage (PED) inflicted on Karabash industrial hub, the area of which accommodates tailings ponds of finely dispersed aluminum silicates and sulfides. The abandoned, nonreclaimed tailings ponds are the source of contamination of air, soil and water. The heavily polluted area makes nearly 2000 ha. Based on the visual inspection and expert estimates, PED structure is determined. The Karabash town air quality is evaluated using the air contamination index with identification of four air quality levels: low, higher, high, and very high. The chemical analysis of water in Ryzhy stream shows that MCL is greatly exceeded in terms of iron, aluminum, manganese, nickel, copper, cadmium and lead. The specific integrated contamination index of water bodies in the Region is determined for 2013 and 2014. The damage due to ground pollution is evaluated. The PED-based ranking of local sites is carried out with the environmental impact assessment. The ecological situation on mining sites under fierce technogenesis is assessed as “critical” and “disastrous.” The after-effect of pollution on the health of the local communities is analyzed, and the revealed incidence rate is from 150 to 300%. The article offers rehabilitation actions for ecologically loaded areas.

1. Available at: http://www.econom-chelreg.ru/zakonodatelstvosekrprom?article=2506 (accessed: May 11, 2015). (in Russian)
2. Available at: http://www.econom-chelreg.ru/review?news=2243 (accessed: May 11, 2015). (in Russian)
3. Timofeeva S. S. Nakoplennyy ekologicheskiy ushcherb Baykalskogo regiona (Cumulated ecological damage of Baikal region). Vestnik Irkutskogo Gosudarstvennolo Tekhnicheskogo Universiteta = Byulletin of Irkutsk State Technical University. 2012. No. 6 (65). pp. 53–59.
4. GOST R 54003-2010. Ekologicheskiy menedzhment. Otsenka proshlogo, nakoplennogo v mestakh dislokatsii organizatsiy, ekologicheskogo ushcherba. Obshchie polozheniya (State Standard R 54003-2010. Ecological management. Evaluation of the past ecological damage accumulated in places of arrangement organizations. General principles). Moscow : Standardinform, 2011. 30 p. (in Russian)
5. Otsenka nakoplennogo ekologicheskogo ushcherba v Kemerovskoy oblasti (Assessment of cumulated ecological damage in Kemerovo Oblast). Novokuznetsk : LLC «InEkA-Consulting», 2006. 50 p. (in Russian)
6. RD 52.04.667-2005. Dokumenty o sostoyanii zagryazneniya atmosfery v gorodakh dlya informirovaniya gosudarstvennykh organov, obshchestvennosti i naseleniya. Obshchie trebovaniya k razrabotke, postroeniyu, izlozheniyu i soderzhaniyu (Management Directive 52.04.667-2005. Documents about the state of pollution of atmosphere in cities for information of state structures, society and population. General requirements to development, designing, statement and maintenance). Moscow : Federal Hydrometereology and Environmental Monitoring Service, 2006. (in Russian)
7. Available at: http://magref.ru/bolezni-svyazannyie-s-ekologiey-g-magnitogorska (accessed: May 11, 2015) (in Russian)
8. RD 52.24.643-2002. Metod kompleksnoy otsenki stepeni zagryaznennosti poverkhnostnykh vod po gidrokhimicheskim pokazatelyam (Management Directive 52.24.643-2002. Method of complex assessment of pollution grade of surface waters by hydrochemical indices). Rostov-on-Don : Federal Hydrometereology and Environmental Monitoring Service, 2002. 55 p. (in Russian)
9. Koshkina V. S., Kotlyar N. N., Antipanova V. S. Sotsialno-ekonomicheskie i ekologicheskie aspekty mediko-demograficheskikh protsessov v Magnitogorske (Social-economic and ecological aspects of medical-demography processes in Magnitogorsk). Problemy ekologicheski obuslovlennykh narusheniy sostoyaniya zdorovya naseleniya promyshlennykh gorodov Yuzhnogo Urala s razvitoy otraslyu chernoy metallurgii (meditsinskie, psikhologo-pedagogicheskie aspekty) : sbornik nauchnykh dokladov (Problems of ecologically substantiated disturbances of the state of health of population of industrial towns of South Urals with developed industry of ferrous metallurgy). Magnitogorsk : Magnitogorsk State University, 2004. pp. 94–103.
10. Available at: http://www.infosait.ru/norma_doc/10/10804/index.htm#i106783 (accessed: May 11, 2015). (in Russian).
11. Koshkina V. S., Buryanova A. G. Ekologo-gigienicheskie, sotsialno-ekonomicheskie, psikhologo-pedagogicheskie faktory i reproduktivnoe zdorove naseleniya kak odna iz vazhneyshikh problem promyshlennogo goroda (Ecological-hygienic, social-economic, phychological-pedagogical factors and reproduction health of population as one of the most important problems of industrial town). Demograficheskiy krizis kak ugroza regionalnomu razvitiyu Rossii. Puti preodoleniya : sbornik statey (Demographic crisis as a hazard to regional development of Russia). Under the editorship of O. A. Koptseva. Moscow : Fund of social development, 2006. pp. 146–149.
12. Khudyakova L. I. Voyloshnikov O. V., Timofeeva S. S. Magniysilikatnye otkhody gornodobyvayushchey promyshlennosti i tekhnologii ikh utilizatsii (Magnesium-silicate wastes of mining industry and technology of their utilization). Novosibirsk : GEO, 2014. 177 p.
13. Timofeeva S. S., Timofeev S. S. Sovremennye fitotekhnologii v reshenii ekologicheskikh problem Baykalskogo regiona (Modern fitotechnologies in solving of ecological problems of Baikal region). Vestnik Irkutskogo Gosudarstvennolo Tekhnicheskogo Universiteta = Byulletin of Irkutsk State Technical University. 2012. No. 2. pp. 52–58.
14. Ulrikh D. I., Timofeeva S. S., Bryukhov M. N. Listostebelnye mkhi v remediatsii livnevykh vod s territorii promyshlennykh predpriyatiy (Leafy moss in recommendations of storm waters from the territory of industrial enterprises). Izvestiya Irkutskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya : Biologiya, ekologiya = Byulletin of Irkutsk State University. Series : Biology, Ecology. 2013. Vol. 6, No. 3 (1). pp. 78–81.
15. Timofeeva S. S., Timofeev S. S., Ulrich D. V. Environmental phytotechnologies in eastern Siberia and south Ural. 14^th International Multidisciplinary Scientific GeoConference & EXPO. Albena, Bulgaria, 17–26 June. 2014. pp. 259–266.