Falu gruva och hållbar utveckling

Sammanfattning: Abstract Falu Copper Mine and Sustainable Development Karl-Markus Ansnaes Falu copper mine was Sweden’s oldest mine industry which lasted for almost a thousand years. Throughout the history its area has been vastly contaminated by sulfur oxide. The contaminations has created the mining area to an environmental risk zone which has the ability to spread out into the Falu River. The river has its connections to the Dal River which is discharging towards its mouth in the Baltic Sea. In the year 1968 the first measurement from the polluted Falu River took place. Its metal content came from the mining area, although the decontamination expenses were too high for the running company Stora Kopparbergs Bergsslag AB to pay which then led to conflicts with the Environmental Protection Agency of Sweden on terms none of them could agree on. It was not until the year 1983 when they both agreed on a cooperation which contained of continuing measurements until a suffi-cient decontamination method could be applied. The cooperation was named Projekt Falu gruva. The first obligation was to improve the sewage plant in Främby by con-necting the contaminated water from the mining area with the waste water though a chemical treatment. In the year 1987 the treatment successfully began and the same year the Swedish government financed a delegation, called Dalälvsdelegationen, and its purpose was to decontaminate the pollutions along the Dal River. The delegation’s research led to three reports which contained the areas involved in the river’s pollu-tion as well how the mining area would be treated. In 1992 the Country Administra-tive Board of Dalarna, the Environmental Authority of Falun Municipality, the Environ-mental Protection Agency of Sweden and Stora Kopparbergs Bergsslag AB began cooperation in order to treat the polluted area of Falu copper mine. This cooperation became a project called Faluprojektet. The project consisted of three decontamina-tion priorities with different treatments in the area. The first decontamination priority resulted in a reducing amount of the polluted mining water by 80 % in the Falu River. The second and the third decontamination priorities had some issues during its treat-ment due to new environmental laws influenced in 1999 and the recognition from UNESCO as this area was since 2001 a world cultural heritage. Both the law and the recognition stated that it was forbidden to remove the waste on the ground from the area since it was a part of the cultural protection. This meant the waste was removed closer to the mine pit and became part of a slower and natural hydrological treatment which caused the sulfur dioxide penetrating into the ground. By doing this type pf treatment it reflects upon the environmental quality goals which Sweden is aiming for in order to reach for sustainable development.