Locality

Chvaletice-Trnávka tailings

The tailings area on the left bank of the Elbe River is flat and slightly inclined towards the river. The Chvaletice pyrite mine was in operation higher up the slope above the tailings. This allowed the waste material from the treatment process to flow directly into the tailings pile area quite simply using pipes. The three piles, created between 1951 and 1975, were enclosed using earth retaining walls. The first pile was created in the south-west part of the area and covers an area of 32.6 hectares. The second, south-east pile covers 39.9 hectares. The third, youngest pile covers 31.1 hectares and was left unfinished due to termination of operations at the Chvaletice mine. Unlike the first two piles, no reclamation was carried out in the third pile.

The existing tailings pile design and the means used for securing it do not comply with today’s requirements for securing deposition areas of mining or extraction waste. A problem is posed predominantly by harmful materials leaching into the subsoil, the groundwater and the Elbe River, as well as the tailings pile materials being carried away by wind and water erosion. Laboratory analyses performed by MANGAN Chvaletice during 2015 to 2017 showed from high to excessive amounts of harmful materials such as manganese, iron and sulphates in the groundwater and in surface water over the entire locality including in domestic wells in the closest community of Trnávka.

The previous industrial activity in the locality has also caused a disturbance of the original vegetation. Its negative consequences for the local fauna and flora still persist. Currently, the surface of individual piles is covered predominantly by grass and low brush, including self-seeded trees such as birch and poplar.