Seguimiento en el tiempo de la evaluación de impacto ambiental en proyectos mineros

Abstract

Environmental impact assessment pretends to minimize the effects that human activity causes on the environment, and correct them as much as possible. Moa (Holguín, Cuba) is an industrial city where mining activity has caused serious damage to the environment, reason why there is a great environmental degradation in the area at present. Thus, it is necessary to carry out economically sustainable environmental studies which promote proper environmental planning. This article aims to propose an environmental methodology for impact assessment for mining projects. To achieve this goal, a study of the most used methods and procedures to evaluate environmental mining impact was made, which allowed the identification of gaps occurring in the implementation process. Likewise, the possibility to include the use of fuzzy techniques was assessed. As a result, a methodology for environmental impact assessment for mining projects using fuzzy techniques, which allows tracking the environmental impact in time, is described. This methodology also allows: identifying the changes that occur in the surroundings of the project site: knowing the state of the environment at given moments of project implementation; testing the effectiveness of the corrective measures, and thus assessing the need to include changes to the project.