oa Risks Caused by the Development of Karst Processes in the Context of Environmental Assessment of Solotvyno Town Territory

The development of karst processes in Solotvyno, which was caused by intensive rock salt mining, is one of the main environmental threats to the infrastructure and local population. The obtained due to interpretation of monitoring satellite images data set for 2016–2017 was determined to be the most complete one over the last decade and was successfully used to detect significant changes in karst structures. Based on the collected information a comprehensive risk assessment of karst formation was carried out using qualitative and quantitative methods. In particular, a conceptual model of existing chains of “damage effects” in Solotvyno caused by the development of the mentioned hazardous geological process was created and a mathematical risk assessment was carried out using the Ashby criterion. The obtained results include consideration of some assessment inacurracy caused by the use of information regarding only reliably confirmed karst sinkholes, which nevertheless does not affect the final conclusion that there is no sufficient level of safety for local population. On the basis of the received results, a suggestion regarding the complex approach use with the main focus not only on the radical governance decisions, but also on the expansion of the modernized research and legislative initiatives was made.