Increasing stakeholders' awareness of soil contamination because of mining waste storage/ CresConSMin
Pilot project duration: July 1st, 2024 - June 30th, 2025
CONTEXT
The mining activity in Hunedoara County, particularly in Jiu Valley microregion has been known since the late 19th century, resulting in significant environmental pollution of air, water, and soil. Regarding soil pollution, the waste generated from coal extraction and preparation of hard coal in Jiu Valley has led to the accumulation of tailings which was deposited in various areas in the microregion, in tailing dumps. The tailing dumps cover a total area of 8 855 ha, from forestry and agricultural circuits. Research conducted to nowadays shows that the soils in Valea Jiului near the tailing dumps are highly affected, with low hummus content, and infertile or minimally fertile nutrients assimilation, thus the vegetation in the area is generally missing.
The CresConSMin pilot project focuses on raising awareness among stakeholders about soil health and the sustainable reuse of former mining sites in the city of Petrila. As part of the broader Healthy Municipal Soils (HuMUS) project, CresConSMin supports local efforts to protect and restore soil health through inclusive, community-driven approaches. HuMUS itself is one of the key actions contributing to the EU Mission: A Soil Deal for Europe, which aims to transition to healthy soils by promoting sustainable soil management across Europe, starting at the local level.
PROJECT OBJECTIVE
Facilitating the EU Soil Mission's implementation in Romania, at the local and regional levels, is the primary goal of the CresConSMin proposal. This was accomplished by establishing spaces for group discussions on issues related to soil health and quality threats, in the context of mining waste storage. Academic experts and researchers from National University Politehnica Bucharest (project leader), University of Petroșani and INSEMEX Petrosani, INSEMEX Petrosani, local NGOs (Jiu Valley Social Institute Association and Association for Integrated Territorial Development Valea Jiului), public authorities (Petrila City Hall, Hunedoara Environmental Protection Agency, and Romanian Waters - Petrosani Independent Hydrotechnical System), and private companies (Euroelectric SRL) collaborated to promote participatory governance methods and tools for enhancing soil quality and health governance in the affected territories.
Our focus is oriented towards Petrila city, eastern part of the Jiu Valley microregion. The objective is to raise awareness among stakeholders, in relation to the soil health protection and former mining sites re-use in a more sustainable manner and re-purpose in in terms of economic development.
Contact
National University of Science and Technology Politehnica Bucharest
Jiu Valley Social Institute Association
CresConSMin
Funded by the European Union
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This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program, under Grant Agreement No101091050. © HUMUS.
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