Mining Area of the Great Copper Mountain in Falun - UNESCO ...

5. Factors Affecting the Property
a. Development pressures
Falun is a small town with a population of about 30,000. It is demographically static
and there is little interest in urban or industrial development. One of the most
important traffic arteries in the county forms the south-southeast boundary of the
mine area. The latter will be affected to some extent by an intended reconstruction of
the road. During the planning phase, antiquarian experts helped to ensure that the
rebuilding of the existing road will entail a minimum of encroachment on the cultural
values of the mine area. In connection with the rebuilding of the road, a site is
wanted near the mine area for the construction of a new filling station and a
hamburger bar. Should this localisation prove to have a negative impact on the
cultural environment, the problem can be eliminated through the exercise of powers
under the National Heritage Act or the Planning and Building Act.
b. Environmental pressures
Within the cultural landscape of the buffer zones there are considerable deposits of
slag and numerous furnace remains from various periods. The slag tends to a certain
extent to contaminate flows of water through the structures and in the great Dalälven
River with heavy metals, which is quite a normal problem in such activities. A
government inquiry mounted with a view to remedying the problems caused by
heavy metals showed the historical occurrences of slag to be only a minor factor in
the contamination of the river. No demands have been made for remediation of the
historic slag.
Water is continuously pumped out of the mine to prevent it from flooding. Since
mining operations were discontinued in December 1992, this drainage has been the
owner’s environmental responsibility. Apart from the matter of environmental
responsibility, drainage is a precondition for the activities of the Visitors’ Mine.
The mine and furnace landscape has been shaped by centuries of large-scale
industrial activity, resulting in a very inhospitable and sterile environment. In the
18th century there was no vegetation within 2.5 km of the core area. Today nature is
reconquering the grim and sterile slag landscape and in this way transforming it. In a
manner of speaking, grass, shrubs and trees constitute an inverted environmental
threat to Kopparberget. An excessive amount of vegetation near the core area is not
desirable.
For the total environment connected with mining operations and the copper industry,
the State, the municipality and the company are engaged in a joint environmental
project, “the Falun Project”, extending over a considerable period of time.
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