Notable case, Huelva, Andalucía (Huelva), Spain
Huelva phosphogypsum stacks
Balsas de fosfoyesos de Huelva
About a hundred million tonnes of phosphogypsum, the residue of phosphoric acid production, piled without any lining on the salt marshes of the Tinto river, on the edge of Huelva.
At a glance
- Status
- Under assessment
- Area
- 1,200 ha on land1
- Media
- soil, surface water, sediment, groundwater
- Kind of site
- chemical works, landfill
- Area. About 1,200 ha and 100 million tonnes according to University of Huelva studies (read from a search extract).
Contaminants
Metalloids
Radionuclides
Other inorganics
Status
Under assessment
Fertiberia has launched the 'Restore 20/30' project to encapsulate and replant 720 ha of stacks (figure read from a search extract). According to the Wikipedia entry an expert panel judged the closure project unfeasible because of the stacks' instability; they go on leaching arsenic, cadmium, uranium and zinc into the estuary.
Story
Phosphogypsum is what is left when phosphate rock is attacked with sulphuric acid to make phosphoric acid for fertiliser. The North African rock used at Huelva contains about 1,500 Bq/kg of uranium-238, and radionuclides of its series, along with metals, pass partly into the residue.
The stacks were laid directly on the marsh sediments, with no insulation at the base and no cover. Acid, highly polluted porewater flows from the stacks into the estuary. University of Huelva studies recommend that the new perimeter channel planned in the restoration project should go at least one metre below the base of the stacks to collect all the leachate.
In one of the areas already "restored", material contaminated with caesium-137 was used as fill; it came from the accidental melting of a radioactive source at the Acerinox steelworks at Los Barrios on 30 May 1998.
Timeline
- 199830 May: the Acerinox accident; material with caesium-137 later ends up in the stacks.
Remediation
- —encapsulation (planned)Fertiberia's 'Restore 20/30' project: encapsulation, drainage and replanting of 720 ha.
From the literature
Species that acted on one of this site's contaminants in at least one study. The list is automatic and takes no account of this site's soil, concentrations or climate.
Plants
- Arabidopsis halleriHaller's rockcressEvidence: field
- Helianthus annuusSunflowerUraniumEvidence: field
- Noccaea caerulescensAlpine pennycressEvidence: field
- Pteris vittataChinese brake fernEvidence: field
- Salix capreaGoat willowEvidence: field
- Salix viminalisBasket willow, common osierEvidence: field
Fungi
- Funneliformis mosseaeUraniumEvidence: greenhouse
- Rhizophagus irregularisUraniumEvidence: greenhouse
- Paxillus involutusBrown roll-rimEvidence: greenhouse
- Aspergillus nigerBlack mouldEvidence: laboratory
- Mucor circinelloidesEvidence: laboratory
- Oidiodendron maiusEvidence: laboratory
The rest are on the contaminant pages.
Nearby
Sources
- Fosfoyeso, Wikipedia (es), 2026
- Evaluation of the impact produced by the Huelva phosphogypsum stacks on their estuarine environment (repository record; read via search extract), Universidad de Huelva
- Restore 20/30 project (read via search extract), Fertiberia
Draft compiled from public sources, not yet reviewed.