From brownfield to greenfield

From brownfield to greenfield

- Major ecological imbalances in Baia Mare. Săsar mine reclamation and reconversion-

Abstract - This study employs a multi-level approach by assessing environment degradation caused by the long-lasting activities of mining industry in the city of Baia Mare, with a close focus on investigating the reconversion methods of underutilized contaminated properties into green spaces. I find that the presence of brownfields continues to be a concern despite state efforts to ease liability fears but also that viable project features can overcome this hurdle. After setting on the fundamental issues of this subject, I have applied these to the case example of the Săsar mine. I have assesed the present situation, followed by mapping the occurrences, direct field observations and social analysis in order to establish a basis for reclamation and reconversion measures. This analysis offers a coherent transformational model for converting a brownfield site into a useful space for the community, environment and economic interests.

1. Introduction:

Societies at all stages of economic development can and do engage in agricultural and gathering activities. The extractive industries emerged only when cultural advancement and economic necessity made possible a broader understanding of the earth’s resources. Now those industries provide the raw material and energy base for the way of life experienced by people in the advanced economies and are the basis for a major part of the international trade, connecting the developing and developed countries.

Industrial landscapes are considered to be evolved structures linked with the past and having a strong bond with the urban settlements. The industry contributes to the formation of cities, which in turn contribute to the development of industry. In other words, “in these zones there is a perfect assimilation between mining activities and local idiosycrasy” (Conesa, H., 2010). However, the industrialization process comes at a high cost, with major impacts reflected upon nature and people. Many of the traditional mining sites suffered economic crisis due to the evolution of the extractive techniques, the new global mineral market with the decreasing in metal worth or the higher importance of environmental issues. Economic crisis had lately social effects such as the progressive abandonment of mining towns by working class people, the disturbances of the traditional mining style of life, the impossibility of getting new economic alternatives, high rates of unemployment, etc.

In physically workable and economically usable deposits, minerals constitute only a tiny fraction of the earth’s crust, far less than 1%. Industrialization has proceeded so rapidly and so cheaply due to an earlier ready availability of rich and accessible deposits of the requisite materials. Economies grow by means of resource exploitation. Romania is marked by the historical pollution generated by the industrialization process when emphasis was placed on growth by the developing polluting industries.

A fundamental premise of communist programs for the development of the national economy was that, whatever the cost, the country should full utilize its domestic resources and should to the possible extent, free itself from the dependence upon foreign resources of supply of important industrial minerals. This policy was also applied in Romania during the communist regime, when most of the extractive industries appeared. Following from this principle, massive investment has been made in transportation improvement and urban construction to exploit mineral deposits in formerly remote and undeveloped areas of the country.

Baia Mare was one of the most important industrial areas in Central Europe and one of the most polluted as well. The city has been a major mining centre for more than 100 years. In the present it is marked by the historical pollution generated by the industrialization, when emphasis was placed on growth by the developing industries. The downfall of the mining and metallurgical sectors in the last decay together with the relinquishment of large industrial areas have generated major economical, social, health and environmental problems. Apart from the urban expansion, the transition towards the post-industrial era has eroded the affiliation to the local identity by disconnecting the economic, social and cultural liaisons which have developed around mining and metallurgy. The soil, water and air remain highly polluted due to the accumulation of heavy metals along the years and the insufficient financial resources and technologies needed for decontamination strategies and actions. Additionally, the negative balance of the migration phenomenon has aggravated the demographic challenges and has brought serious consequences upon future development. This has also resulted in a tendency of marginalization.

Metals reprocessing had severe impacts on the natural environment due to the disposal of gangue and waste dumps in the surrounding areas of the city. The surface covered in dump is extensively large and the materials they contain are high in acidity and have high concentrations of sulphide. The safety and stability of these sites are uncertain and seriously affect the biocoenosis and the living standard of the population through the water and soil contamination. Rain and ground water which infiltrate in the abandoned mines are gravitationally collected by the river courses without being treated. Surface and ground water pollution are a constant threat for the clean water sources of local population. As such, the natural environment of Baia Mare has suffered many ecological imbalances along the years and the challenge nowadays is to reestablish the equilibrium between the natural and anthropical components.

2. Natural and human resources:

2.1. Geographical context

The city of Baia Mare is situated in the western part of Maramureș county, on the Săsar river course. It embodies other 4 localities, Blidari, Firiza, Valea Neagră and Valea Borcutului, which delimitate the built-up area of Baia Mare. The city adjoins with the Igniș mountains in the north, the localities of Recea and Groși in the south, the city of Baia Sprie in the east and the Tăuții Măgherăuș township in the west. The total surface of the administrative territory sums up 23.573 ha, from which 3.170 ha are agricultural fields, 18.599 ha of forests and 1.804 ha of constructions and other purposes.

Baia Mare is part of the Carpathians Euroregion, a member of the Cooperation program in water management of the Tisa river basin, member of the Operational Program of Cross-border Cooperation along with Hungary, Slovakia and Ukraine and an integrated part of the NV Development Region. Moreover, Baia Mare is located more closely to the Hungarian capital city of Budapest than to Bucharest.