The MERSADE (European Union) project: testing procedures and environmental impact for the safe storage of liquid mercury in the Almadén district, Spain

Abstract

The MERSADE Project (LIFE--European Union) tested the Las Cuevas decommissioned mining complex (Almadén mercury district, Spain) as a potential site for the installation of a future European prototype safe deposit of surplus mercury from industrial activities. We here present the results of a baseline study on the distribution of mercury in soils and air in the Las Cuevas complex and surrounding areas, and show the results of a plume contamination model using the ISC-AERMOD software. Despite restoration works carried out in 2004, the Las Cuevas complex can still be regarded as hotspot of mercury contamination, with large anomalies above 800 microg g(-1) Hg (soils) and 300 ng Hg m(-3) (air). In the case of soils, high, and persistent concentrations above 26 microg g(-1) Hg extend well beyond the complex perimeter for more than 2 km. These concentrations are about three orders of magnitude above world baselines. The same applies to mercury in air, with high concentrations above 300 ng Hg m(-3) inside the perimeter, which nonetheless fade away in a few hundred meters. Air contamination modelling (Hg gas) predicts formation of a NW-SE oriented narrow plume extending for a few hundred meters from the complex perimeter. The geographic isolation of Las Cuevas and its mining past make the complex an ideal site for mercury stocking. The only potential environmental hazards are the raising of livestock only a few hundred meters away from the complex and flash floods.