UA Hosts Global Workshop to Address Mine Tailings
The La Paz mine, located in Villa de La Paz, San Luis Potosí, Mexico. (Photo courtesy of Blenda Machado)
Saginaw Hill, an abandoned mining site Tucson. (Photo courtesy of Janick F. Artiola)
Mine tailings can contain from 0.1 percent to as much as 5 percent lead, arsenic, copper and zinc, which pose potential health and environmental consequences.
Researchers at The University of Arizona met with international experts to discuss the health impacts of and novel approaches to addressing the issue of mine tailings in arid environments. To date, global standard protocols have not been developed for low-cost extensive stabilization strategies for these sites.
The workshop brought together 48 international experts from Australia, Mexico, South Africa, the Tohono O’odham Nation and the United States. Participants included key practitioners from mine tailings sites, personnel involved in regulation and oversight at the Environmental Protection Agency and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, consultants, as well as UA research personnel.
The workshop took place at the UA’s Drachman Hall on Thursday and Friday.
Workshop participants provided global perspectives to facilitate improvements in the management of tailings, discussed the most recent scientific information and shared information deficits for mine tailings stabilization in arid and semi-arid environments. Their work will culminate in a collaborative white paper journal article to be published with recommendations and results of the meeting.
According to the UA’s College of Pharmacy Superfund Basic Research Program, also known as UA SBRP, who hosted the conference, mine tailing disposal sites from either inactive or abandoned mine sites are prevalent in arid and semiarid regions throughout the world, including western North America, South America, Spain, India, South Africa and Australia.
The National Institute for Environmental Health Science funds the UA SBRP to “investigate the hazardous waste and public health issues currently confronting the Southwestern region of the United States, specifically arsenic, chlorinated hydrocarbon, and mine tailings contamination, and is the major sponsor of the workshop,” said Monica Ramirez, a member of the workshop’s steering committee and coordinator for the UA SBRP Research Translation Core.
Ramirez explained the importance of the health consequences of ignoring these sites. “These mine tailing sites can have profound health and environmental consequences especially for children in nearby communities or for sensitive riparian or wildlife refuge areas due to the metal content of the tailings – particularly historical tailings, which can contain from 0.1 percent to as much as 5 percent lead, arsenic, copper and zinc,” she said.
et cetera
- Contact Info
Monica Ramirez
Coordinator UA SBRP Research Translation Core
520-260-6620
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