Voronezh State University, Voronezh, Russia

V. A. Budarina, Candidate of Juridical Sciences, Associate Professor

Belgorod State University, Belgorod, Russia

I. M. Ignatenko, Director of the Institute of Earth Sciences, Candidate of Engineering Sciences, Associate Professor

I. I. Kosinova, Head of Department, Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, Professor, kosinova777@yandex.ru

Mining facilities are significant sources of pollution caused to the components of environment. In the central part of Russia, the world’s largest deposit of ferruginous quartzites is being exploited at depths from 50 to 250 m. Productive strata and overburden contain heavy metals that are foreign to soil on ground surface. The purpose of this work was to study the range of impact exerted by pollutants on adjacent areas. The object of study was the Bykovskoe rural settlement in the Belgorod Region, located 140 km away from the facilities of the Stoilensky and Lebedinsky GOKs and 10 km off the mines of Yakovlevsky GOK. The soil structure of the Bykovskoe rural settlement is represented by black soil with a predominance of ‘typical’ chernozems. The ecological and geochemical studies of soils and subsoils revealed a permissible level of their pollution. However, it was found that the concentration of elements such as Cr, Va, Ba, Zn at all points of soil sampling was, though insignificantly, but higher than the background value. Nickel content is similar at all sampling points and ranges from 29.71 to 41.09 mg/kg. In addition to the excess in nickel, an increased concentration of cobalt was also detected. The analysis of the content of heavy metals in soils demonstrates their permissible level, and exceedances are only found for arsenic and cobalt. This circumstance makes it possible to determine the threat radius of impact exerted by large mining facilities on soils in adjacent areas, which is at least 140 km. Engineering and environmental surveys within the delineated zone allow determining the genesis of some heavy metals in soils free from direct industrial impact. The results obtained should be taken into account when developing recommendations on ecological and geochemical monitoring during engineering and environmental surveys.
The study was supported within the framework of the Priority 2030 Program, Project No. 20180180 Ecosystem Reproduction and Management on Agrolandscapes.

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