Press Release: Environment: Commissioner Dimas welcomes conciliation agreement on mining waste directive

The European Commissioner for the Environment, Stavros Dimas, welcomed the conciliation agreement between the European Parliament and Council on a new directive for the management of waste from extractive industries, 7 December 2005. The directive aimed to introduce EU-wide rules designed to prevent water and soil pollution from the storage of waste in tailings ponds and waste heaps, with particular emphasis on the short and long-term stability of such waste facilities. Together with the revised Seveso II Directive and a reference document on Best Available Techniques, the forthcoming directive was meant to ensure environmentally sound management of waste from extractive activities throughout the EU.

European Commission: PreLex: COM(2003) 319, Proposal for a Directive [...] on the management of waste from the extractive industries http://ec.europa.eu/prelex/detail_dossier.cfm?CL=en&ReqId=0&DocType=COM&DocYear=2003&DocNum=319

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