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6.2 Pollution and water quality
A range of pollutants in many of Europe’s waters threatens aquatic ecosystems and may raise concerns for public health. These pollutants arise from a range of sources including agriculture, industry, households and the transport sector. They are emitted to water via numerous diffuse and point pathways. Once released into freshwater, pollutants can be transported downstream and ultimately discharged to coastal waters, together with direct discharges from cities, industrial discharges and atmospheric deposition polluting coastal waters.
Clean unpolluted water is essential for our ecosystems. Aquatic plants and animals react to changes in their environment caused by changes in water quality. Pollution takes many forms: 1) faecal contamination from sewage makes water aesthetically unpleasant and unsafe for recreational activities such as swimming; 2) many organic pollutants, including sewage effluent as well as farm and food-processing wastes, consume oxygen, suffocating fish and other aquatic life; 3) excess nutrients can create eutrophication, a process characterised by increased plant growth, problematic algal blooms, depletion of oxygen, loss of life in bottom water, and undesirable disturbance to the balance of organisms present in the water; and moreover, 4) pollution through hazardous substances and chemicals can threaten aquatic ecosystems and human health.
Reducing pollution to meet the objectives of the WFD requires that several other directives and regulations are implemented. These include the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive, the Nitrates Directive, the Directive on Sustainable Use of Pesticides, the Industrial Emissions Directive and the Regulation on the registration, evaluation, authorization and restriction of chemicals (REACH), which all play a key role in tackling point and diffuse source pollution.
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"Pollution takes many forms: 1) faecal contamination from sewage makes water aesthetically unpleasant and unsafe for recreational activities such as swimming; 2) many organic pollutants, including sewage effluent as well as farm and food-processing wastes, consume oxygen, suffocating fish and other aquatic life; 3) excess nutrients can create eutrophication, a process..."
Please replace "organic pollutants" by "organic materials" to "...2) many organic materials, including sewage effluent as well as... "
Explanation: organic materials (or better the associated microbes) can consume oxygen during decomposition - organic pollutants do not necessarily consume oxygen ...
In reference to the 1st paragraph: In the European Union, a vast majority of aggregates extraction sites are dealing with inert materials such as sand, gravel and crushed rock, and produce inert wastes according to EU definitions and criteria included in EU Directives. The industry’s production process and treatment plants do not include the use of chemicals, as in most of the cases the processes are based on mechanical crushing, milling, grinding, and size grading. The Aggregates Industry does not represent a threat for water quality. According to permit conditions, main parameters to be considered in quarries and sand and gravel pits are pH, TSS, BOD, BOQ, for which the water discharge parameters are monitored and declared. With the technology in place, water quality is perfectly manageable in aggregates extraction sites. It is necessary to make a clear distinction between the concept of mining and quarrying, as the nature of their activities and the properties of the materials they extract are very different. It is therefore essential to define clearly in the report what is meant by heavy industry or mining. As mining sites counting for less than 5% in comparison with quarries, sand and gravel extraction sites representing 95%, it would be recommended to clearly define which measures apply to mining and which ones to the Aggregates Industry rather than addressing the entire extractive industry.
In reference to the 2nd paragraph: In the European Union, a vast majority of aggregates extraction sites are dealing with inert materials such as sand, gravel and crushed rock, and produce inert wastes according to EU definitions and criteria included in EU Directives. The industry’s production process and treatment plants do not include the use of chemicals as in most of the cases the processes are based on mechanical crushing, milling, grinding, and size grading. It is necessary to make a clear distinction between the concept of mining and quarrying, as the nature of their activities and the properties of the materials they extract are very different, and the Aggregates Industry does not represent a threat for water quality. Moreover, in the aggregates industry, it is possible to create wetlands during and after the extraction phase, according with the permit granted by the administration (including environment and water management authorities, and in many cases under the EIA scheme). Most of those new wetlands or lakes are designed according to suitable hydromorphological parameters, to achieve a new (artificial) water body that is able to grant water quality parameters and biodiversity requirements for their life time. Some of them have flood protection designs or even good quality water supply to urban areas for human consumption. Recent studies from different countries (Denmark, Austria, France, UK, Germany, Spain) are demonstrating that water quality is by far better in these artificial wetlands linked to quarries and sand and gravel pits extaction sites, compared to natural lakes. The rise of biodiversity is, again, a living proof of that. These facts have received recognition by the European Commission, research institutions, and a number of environmental NGOs.
It would be therefore recommended to clearly define what is meant by heavy industry or mining and which measures apply to mining and which ones to the Aggregates Industry, rather than addressing the entire extractive industry.
Last paragraph (mentioning REACH):
This aspect deserves a better development: There is potentially a problem of coherence between the objectives that are fixed by the WFD (and other "milieu" approaches) and the implementation of REACH (i.e. regulation of emissions/pressures).