An integrated approach to the geoecological assessment of accumulated damage objects
The article considers an example of solving the problem of a detailed and rapid geoecological assessment of a technogenically disturbed site through the use of a set of recent achievements in the field of geochemical, airborne and ground geophysical, ecotoxicological, and geoinformation methods, as well as near-surface drilling. The object is the industrial site of the former ‘‘Vostsibelement’’ battery plant in Svirsk (Eastern Siberia, Russia), which was closed more than 20 years ago. The object is localized within the Baikal natural territory - a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Significant excesses of the total content of lead were revealed by express XRF analysis - up to several thousand times, and hundreds of times for arsenic, copper, zinc and nickel. Concentration maps were constructed. Using the drilling, the depth of penetration of toxicants into the depth of the soil profile has been found. Terrestrial and UAV gamma survey methods have established increased radioactivity of building materials of some buildings within and outside the industrial site. For the first time, biotesting methods revealed areas of the territory with waste of II and III hazard classes. As a result of ecotoxicological experiments, it was found that, despite the fact that lead anomalies have the maximum contrast, arsenic poses the greatest environmental hazard. Aerial lidar and photogrammetry data have made it possible to estimate the amount of waste located on the surface. Drilling data allow us to estimate the amount of contamination in the near surface part of the section. It is shown that a dangerous object of accumulated harm to the environment was identified, it needs to be immediately liquidated. One of the main conclusions is the substantiation of the need to conduct significantly more detailed geoecological studies, in comparison with the accepted state standards of Russia, otherwise the results of the geoecological assessment of such complex objects will be unreliable.