The concentrations of heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn) in soils near lignite coal mine located at Surat (Gujarat) were determined and their toxicity was used to assess the risk of Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn in contaminated soils and the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). The TCLP method is a currently recognized international method for evaluation of heavy metal pollution in soils. The available levels of Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn were 0.41-0.77, 3-8.0, 5.6-19.0, 9.1-57.0, 47-121, 7.1-16.0, 3.4-9.0 and 13-60 mg/kg-1 respectively, while the international standards were 0.06, 100, 8, 30, 600, 40, 10 and 50 mg/kg-1, respectively. Soils around the mine were polluted with Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Mn, and Ni followed by Pb and Zn. Moreover, the levels of heavy metals in the soils extracted by TCLP indicated that extraction fluid 2 was more effective than extraction fluid 1 in extracting the heavy Metals from the polluted soils and there was a positive correlation between fluids1and 2. Available heavy metal contents determined by TCLP were correlated with soil total heavy metal contents.