Objectives of the KAJAK project
Mines were previously abandoned and closed using methods that do not meet modern environmental and safety requirements. Waters entering the environment from, for example, extractive waste areas, have caused problems.
The national list contains 19 orphan mines that were closed or abandoned, whose extractive waste areas require investigation of responsibilities and environmental and health hazards. These are called KAJAK sites.
The KAJAK project is part of the state-funded Clean Soil Programme, which is implemented by the Finnish Supervisory Agency.
The aim of the KAJAK project is:
- to bring the environmental and health risks of old extractive waste sites under sustainable control.
- improve the chemical status, environmental status and biodiversity of waters.
Background of the KAJAK project
The EU Extractive Waste Directive (2006) required Member States to draw up an updated list of decommissioned and abandoned extractive waste sites that cause serious harm to the environment or could pose a serious threat to human health or the environment.
Several projects in the 2010s. In order to draw up a national list, extractive waste sites and their risks were surveyed in five different KAJAK projects in the 2010s. At the same time, recommendations for measures were made to investigate risks and responsibilities and to restore areas that pose an environmental or health risk.
The national list was last updated in Finland in January 2020, and it contains 31 sites, 19 of which (KAJAK sites) currently require further action, at least monitoring.
Implementation
The risks associated with closed and abandoned extractive waste sites included on the national list are being monitored and investigated at each site. Areas are restored based on risk, as necessary. The Ministry of the Environment has centralised implementation of the task nationally to the Finnish Supervisory Agency for the Clean Soil Programme.
- The Clean Soil Programme has compiled general baseline data on all sites in cooperation with the Soil Protection Group of the Finnish Supervisory Agency.
- This work is also done in close cooperation with other authorities.
- Investigations are carried out in a prescribed order of priority approved by the Ministry of the Environment.
At some sites, monitoring is initially carried out to provide additional information for assessing environmental impacts. Then, if necessary, the project proceeds to a more detailed investigation stage, based on which the need for restoration or other risk management can be assessed. At the same time, the party responsible for any necessary restoration of the area is determined. Responsibility issues are complex and considered on a site-by-site basis.
Projects typically proceed in three stages:
- monitoring (the environmental impacts of the site are monitored by means of sampling, which typically lasts for 1.5 years)
- investigation (comprehensive research includes assessing risk and remediation needs as well as a sustainability assessment)
- restoration (only if there is a need for risk management at the site).
The supervising authority is the Soil Protection Group of the Finnish Supervisory Agency.
Results
An appropriation of EUR 1.4 million has been granted to the KAJAK project for 2020–2024.
This funding has enabled the implementation of:
- 1 restoration site;
- 4 investigation sites; and
- 7 monitoring sites.
No new funding has been granted to the KAJAK project, and the ongoing projects will be funded by the Clean Soil Programme.
Without further funding, it will not be possible to investigate all 19 KAJAK sites. If funding is obtained, the aim is to conduct investigations on all sites by 2030.
Contact person
Kari Pyötsiä, Finnish Supervisory Agency, [email protected], 0295 255 046
