Risk-Based Selection of Rehabilitation Measures for Inactive Mining Dumps in the Jiu Valley, Romania

Abstract

Inactive mining dumps are persistent environmental liabilities in former mining regions, particularly where waste deposits are located near watercourses, settlements or areas with potential for ecological reuse. In the Jiu Valley, Romania, the long history of coal mining has generated numerous waste rock dumps with different degrees of contamination, morphological stability, vegetation development and receptor exposure. Although contamination indices are useful for identifying environmental pressure, rehabilitation planning requires the translation of risk information into site-specific action priorities. This paper proposes a risk-based decision-support framework for selecting rehabilitation measures for inactive mining dumps in the Jiu Valley. The approach integrates three categories of indicators: geochemical pressure, morphometric and stability pressure, and environmental vulnerability. These indicators were derived from existing inventory, morphometric, receptor-proximity and geochemical data obtained for fourteen inactive mining dumps. A Rehabilitation Action Priority score was calculated to assign each dump to one of four rehabilitation classes: urgent risk control and containment, active ecological stabilisation, monitored natural recovery with targeted intervention, and low-risk ecological reconversion. The results indicate that Balomir, Ramura 1 and 2 Lupeni, and Ramura 1, 2, 3 and 4 Petrila require the highest rehabilitation priority, while most other dumps require active ecological stabilisation rather than immediate containment. The proposed framework supports preliminary decision-making under limited resources and demonstrates that post-mining rehabilitation should move beyond simple contamination ranking towards action-oriented planning. Keywords: inactive mining dumps; rehabilitation prioritisation; environmental risk; post-mining landscapes; ecological stabilisation; decision-support framework