Mines flooded, ground subsiding: OSCE announces findings on ecology in Donbas
The OSCE reported that 39 mines in Donbas are being flooded or are already completely flooded and are no longer suitable for further operation as a result of hostilities
As Depo.Donbas reports with reference to "Donbas News", this was announced by OSCE environmental expert Dmytro Averin during the conference "Reduce Threats: Environmental and Technogenic Risks in Eastern Ukraine".
"The flooding of mines in Donbas has become one of the main consequences of hostilities in its territory. Mines are being flooded due to power outages, infrastructure destruction, dismantling of pumping equipment, etc. In total, in 2014-2020, disruptions in operation were recorded at 80 mining enterprises in eastern Ukraine," Averin said.
He emphasized that the flooding of mines affects the level of groundwater and the geological stability of the earth's surface: the flooding of mines can lead to ground subsidence and the decommissioning of urban infrastructure and industrial facilities, including elements of the regional water supply system.
"Areas of ground subsidence have been recorded in the Donetsk-Makiivka-Khartsyzk, Toretsk-Horlivka-Yenakiieve, Shakhtarsk-Snizhne-Khrustalnyi and Dovzhanskyi, Sorokyne and Zolote-Kadiivka-Alchevsk agglomerations," the expert reports.
He also confirmed that during the violation of the dewatering regime, contaminated mine waters affect the quality of underground and surface waters on both sides of the contact line.
"A particular danger to the environment is posed by mines that were used for storing hazardous waste, such as "Oleksandr-Zakhid" (Horlivka) and "Yunyi Komunar" mine (Bunge) in the territory of Donetsk region temporarily not controlled by Ukrainian authorities, which are already more than 60% flooded," Averin noted.
Reference: The threat of radiation contamination arose after almost three years ago the occupation administration in Donetsk stopped pumping water from the "Klyvazh" object at the "Yunkom" mine. In 1979, a nuclear explosion was carried out at the mine - a cavity was formed in the ground, from which water was pumped out until 2018 so that radiation would not rise to the surface. Coal mining at the enterprise has not been carried out since 2001. Despite the protests of residents of the nearby village of Bunge, in April 2018, the "DPR" group stopped dewatering and transferred the enterprise to "wet" conservation (flooded it).
It should be recalled that in the spring of 2018, militants disconnected equipment in the radioactive Yunkom mine in Bunge (formerly Yunokomunarivsk).
As previously reported, during the conflict in Donbas, 28 enterprises were closed and almost 100,000 jobs were destroyed in ORDLO.
In October 2020, it became known that the radioactive "Yunkom" mine was poisoning drinking water.