Chapter 2986

And that waste residue pond was also a large pit dug with excavators. The waste residue left after mineral processing and smelting was piled up in the large pit at will. These waste residues had already been piled up like a mountain.

These waste residues were also pitch black, and outside the large pit, the soil had also been paved into a pitch-black area by the waste residue washed by rainwater. As a gust of wind blew, everyone smelled a foul odor.

Imagine, who wouldn't frown when seeing such a scene?

Mine Manager Li introduced to Guan Tongfu, "Dr. Guan, these wastewaters are left after extracting gold. They contain cyanide, as well as heavy metals such as lead and mercury. Cyanide is easy to say, it only harms for a while and can be degraded after a long time, but these heavy metals are a bit helpless. They have all seeped into the groundwater, and now the soil in this area contains heavy metals."

Guan Tongfu's brows were furrowed tightly.

Mine Manager Li said again, "Those waste residues are mainly the slag left after mineral processing, which also contains a lot of heavy metals, including lead, zinc, copper, chromium, cadmium, and indium, as well as arsenic, sulfur, and even a very small amount of gold and silver. When it rains, these things will seep into the ground with the rainwater, which is a great pollution to the soil and groundwater."

Guan Tongfu nodded. He took samples from both the wastewater pond and the waste residue pond, and then took samples from the soil at different distances from the pond, and also took samples from the nearby spring water and well water. He had to take these samples back for testing to determine how much heavy metal content was in these samples.

After Guan Tongfu returned from sampling, Su Xinghui asked, "Dr. Guan, how do you think such pollution should be handled? This is just one mine. In Baozhou, there are probably no less than dozens of such mines, and there are countless private gold refining workshops, so the problem of heavy metal pollution is really very serious."

Xin Jing said, "Yes, if it is not treated, I don't know how many people this heavy metal pollution will harm. Many of the mountain people nearby have contracted various strange diseases due to the pollution caused by the mines."

Guan Tongfu said, "This wastewater should at least be discharged into a pond made of cement, and then discharged into nature after harmless treatment. And this waste residue is actually tailings, which should be stored in a tailings pond built of cement, and then can be recycled and treated with special technology. If these waste residues are used properly, they will be very valuable resources."

Guan Tongfu's words made everyone nod. These wastewaters should of course be purified through harmless treatment and discharged into nature after reaching the discharge standard. Everyone knew this truth.