Macek, J., Tóth, R. & Jurkovič, Ľ., 2025: Environmental burdens in Šurany – groundwater pollution by chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons [Environmentálne záťaže v Šuranoch – znečistenie podzemnej vody chlórovanými alifatickými uhľovodíkmi]. Mineralia Slovaca, 27, 2, 159 – 172.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.56623/ms.2025.57.2.4
Abstract: In the past, the town of Šurany was a local center of industrial production, which resulted in the existence of five environmental burdens. Industry was associated with the intensive use of hazardous substances. In 2022, geological surveys of the environment were carried out on three environmental burdens in the townʼs cadastral area (the former sugar mill, the former CALEX plant and the municipal solid waste dump). The survey results were processed together with the results of a detailed geological survey of the STS and ELITEX site (2015) and a supplementary survey of the CALEX plant (2023). The aim was to identify various groups of pollutants in the soil and groundwater (petroleum hydrocarbons, PAHs, BTEX, CAHs, metals). Geological work confirmed massive groundwater contamination with chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons in the southwestern part of the town. The results show that the main source of contamination is the former STS and ELITEX site, from which the contamination spreads downgradient with groundwater flow. The maximum concentrations of pollution were very high (cis-1,2-dichloroethene 2,810 μg.L–1, trichloroethene 2,970 μg.L–1, tetrachloroethene 247 μg.L–1). Unlike the other sites investigated, vinyl chloride was also present in the groundwater (max 168 μg.L–1). High concentrations of CAHs were identified 500 m downgradient the STS and ELITEX sites in groundwater at a municipal solid waste dump (cis-1,2-dichloroethene 469 μg.L–1, trichloroethene 842 μg.L–1, tetrachloroethene 125 μg.L–1).
Key words: Groundwater, Contamination, Chlorinated Aliphatic Hydrocarbons, Environmental Burden, Šurany