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Owing to their toxicity, heavy metals constitute a serious threat to the environment. In the pages that follow, we will report the results of evaluation of the potential ecological risk and trend of soil heavy metal pollution surrounding the drilling waste deposition site in western Poland. The concentrations of heavy metals: Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb were determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry. The procedure used for potential ecological risk assessment was as proposed by Hakanson (1980). The calculated potential ecological risk factors come in the following order EiR(Cd)>EiR(Pb)>EiR(Cu)>EiR(Cr), which shows that Cd is the most important factor leading to risk. The uniform model was employed to determine the time in which Cd concentration will exceed the permissible concentration level, as regulated by Polish Law. The Pearson correlation coefficient was employed along with the correspondence analysis in order to determine the relationships between heavy metal concentrations.

Storage of drilling wastes threatens the natural environment. Cluster analysis was employed for evaluation of the behaviour of chemical compounds in the water of piezometers from the drilling waste management facility in Luchów. Cluster analysis proved to be an efficient method, enabling the identification of groups of chemical compounds threatening the environment.

The potential of CO2 sequestration by forests is characterized. It was shown on the example of Poland that it is possible to increase the CO2 sequestration by forest through afforestation of poor soils that do not guarantee profitable agricultural production, fertilisation with mineral fertilisers to increase photosynthesis process and by growing catch crops cultivated between the rows of trees. It would allow to increase in Poland the CO2 sequestration from 26.2 mln t CO2 yr-1 to about 314.4 mln t CO2 yr-1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Real and potential environmental effects of drill cuttings deposition in open-mining pit were studied. An analysis of selected parameters of deposited drilling waste, groundwater taken from piezometers and eluates obtained during batch leaching tests of drill cuttings was the basis for the estimation. The high concentrations of barium, lead, and zinc in drilling waste (maximum measured values equal to 54; 152; and 438 mg/kg dry weight, respectively) do not allow to classify the examined materials as inert waste from the extractive industries. The groundwater taken from the piezometers located around the drilling waste landfill contained high concentrations of total organic carbon (up to 21.9 mgC/L) boron, calcium, magnesium, manganese, aluminum, and potassium (up to 2.12; 455; 148; 1.75; 5.11; and 25 mg/L, respectively). In contrast to this observation, concentrations of barium and chlorides were the most exceeded in the batch leaching tests. It suggests that pollution of groundwater was not caused by drilling waste deposition. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The emission and absorption fluxes of CO2 and CH4 in the environment have been characterized. It has been pointed out that the anthropogenic emission of CO2 amounts only to 3% of emissions from the natural sources. It has been also noted that increasing CO2 absorption of terrestrial ecosystems by 3% could inhibit the increase of CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. This means that mitigation of global warming by intensifying natural processes is a more sustainable solution than performing expensive changes in energy policy. Lowering the emission of methane, on the other hand, can be accomplished by utilizing fodder additives for ruminants and the process of microbiological methane oxidation in covering soil layers or biofilters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discussion about greenhouse gases emission mitigation focuses on the reduction of fossil fuels usage, which is extremely costly from the economic and social viewpoint. The analyses of CO2 and CH4 fluxes in the environment showed that intensifying natural photosynthesis and respiration process may significantly contribute to the mitigation of greenhouse gases emission. It has been proven that the intensity of photosynthesis in land ecosystems could compensate for the increase of CO2 emission from anthropological sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]