Assessment of Heavy Metal Mobility in Soils of the Former "Vostsibelement" Battery Plant to Determine Optimal Reclamation Strategies

The industrial area of the former “Vostsibelement” battery plant (Svirsk, Irkutsk Region) is identified as a hotspot of heavy metal soil contamination. To select the most effective soil reclamation strategies, the mobility and chemical forms of heavy metals across the entire site were analyzed. Samples with average and maximum lead content show a higher content of residual fraction of heavy metals, which includes some of the most stable and difficult to extract compounds of the latter, which are of technogenic origin. A decrease in the fraction of heavy metals bound to organic matter was observed. Arsenic exhibited the highest mobility among the studied samples. Based on the obtained data and the identified contamination zonality, a comprehensive reclamation approach is recommended.