Latest acid mine drainage crisis calls for a constructive response from civil society

Comment:  No to uranium mining!

By earthlife ⋅ January 19, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment
Media Release 19 January 2010

From: Earthlife Africa Johannesburg (Acid Mine Drainage Working Group)

Endorsed by: Legal Resources Centre, Federation for a Sustainable Environment, The GreenHouse People’s Environment Centre, Public Environmental Arbiters

Contacts for further information:

Rachel Adatia email: amd.workinggroup@gmail.com cell 082 420 1436

Mariette Liefferink email: mariettel@iburst.co.za Tel: 011 787 7965 cell: 073 231 4893

Environmental disaster flowing from the West Rand

Untreated acid mine water is currently flowing uncontrollably out of an old mine ventilation shaft on the West Rand, near Randfontein. The water is polluted with toxic heavy metals, including uranium. At another exit point the toxic water is only 1cm away from overflowing (as of measurements taken by Rand Uranium on 14 January 2010). This acid mine water will further pollute the streams and rivers of both the Vaal and Limpopo river systems, threatening the health of all people reliant on these rivers and their tributaries.

The impact of acid mine drainage is far reaching and long-term. For example, research shows that acid mine drainage could not only affect our quality of water, but also poison food crops, destroy heritage sites, lead to a decline in agricultural production and related job losses. It could also lead to civil unrest related to conflict over resource use.

Why was this disaster allowed to happen?

This latest acid mine drainage crisis could have been avoided if the mining companies responsible Ð especially DRD Gold Ð and the government had worked together more effectively. It seems that Rand Uranium has acted responsibly and continued to pump and treat water from the Western Basin. However, once the other companies stopped pumping, Rand Uranium did not have the capacity to pump and treat enough water to stop the level of underground toxic water rising. The recent heavy rains added to the volume of water draining into the old mining area.

It is not the first time

Civil society groups have been alerting government and the mining companies to this danger since 2002 when it first became clear that the Western Basin was flooded. This meant that the water had to be continuously pumped out and treated if an uncontrolled overflow of acid mine water was to be prevented. However, this has not been done consistently, largely due to the inability of government and some mining companies to work constructively together. A key stumbling block is who will pay for the clean-up. Pumping and treating water is expensive. For example, it costs R2.5 million a month to pump and partially treat 25Ml of water. Yet such costs are far exceeded by the health and environmental costs to society of doing nothing.

Civil society has a role to play

The government and mining companies have made some progress in addressing the acid mine drainage issue, for example:

- there is now a Remediation Action Plan for the Wonderfonteinspruit catchment area

- a huge amount of research has been done on the issue of acid mine drainage (In 1996 scientists even predicted that the Western Basin would flood in 2002)

- there are various proposals for a potential long-term solution to the issue, which require urgent response from the government and civil society.

However, the pollution is ongoing and it could soon get much worse. There are only about 2.5 years left before acid mine water begins to flow uncontrollably out of the Central Basin, below Johannesburg, and only 18 months before the polluted water in that Basin reaches an environmentally critical level. Beyond that level the environment will be detrimentally and potentially irreversibly affected.

It is imperative that broader civil society starts to engage with acid mine drainage because it appears that the government and mining companies cannot resolve this issue in isolation. There needs to be an open public debate so the issue can be addressed constructively.

The problems related to acid mine drainage are going to be with us for decades, if not hundreds, of years to come. ItÕs time for us all to learn about acid mine drainage and start working out how to deal with it. Such action includes:

* raising awareness of the dangers of using the polluted water (even for irrigating vegetables) or disturbing the mud at the bottom of polluted dams and streams

* undertaking further research into the long-term health impacts of the pollution

* planning and implementing projects to rehabilitate the most affected areas

* taking preventive action to avoid acid mine drainage resulting from future mining operations.

In addition, there needs to be open debate around one of the key stumbling blocks that has influenced a lack of action on the part of mining companies and the government up to now Ð the question of who pays. For example:

* Is it realistic to expect current mining companies to pay for the legacies of other mining companies in the past?

* Should mining companies offer a public apology for the environmental and social damage of the past, as a first step in corporate accountability?

* Should the commercial enterprises, including multinational companies and local elites, that gained from mining on the Witwatersrand be expected to make reparations?

* How effective are current laws and regulations in safeguarding our long-term health and environment from inappropriate mining operations?

Background notes

Water continuously seeps into old mine shafts. The water becomes acidic and contaminated with metals from the rocks. Once it reaches a certain level it flows out uncontrollably; the overflow cannot be plugged. The only way to avoid the surface flow of acid mine water is to continuously pump out and treat the water before discharging it into streams and rivers.

The death of Robinson Lake

In 2002, the mining companies did not have the capacity to pump and treat all the water before it overflowed on to the surface of the ground. In August 2002 a huge volume of partially treated mine water was allowed to flow out into the Robinson Lake, near Randfontein. This killed all the remaining fish in the lake. The lake was already contaminated as it had been used as a storage and settling facility for water pumped from the mines when they were still operating in the area. The levels of radioactive uranium in Robinson Lake are 40 000 times higher than the natural uranium levels for the area.  Water from the Robinson Lake flows into the Tweelopiespruit which flows through the Krugersdorp Nature Reserve and into a tributary of the Crocodile River, upstream from Hartbeespoort Dam. According to the Department of Water Affairs, the Tweelopiespruit is a Class V river Ð a very high acute hazard.

The danger below ground

An unqualified volume of acid mine water is flowing below ground, into the Zwartkrans Compartment which hosts the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site. In this area, more than 11 000 people are dependent on borehole water for drinking water, domestic use and to grow food. Studies have already proved some borehole water supplies in the area to be polluted. In addition, the pollution extends to the soil and can get into peopleÕs food.

Threats to health from high levels of uranium

As well as the radiological risks related to uranium, it is also a chemical poison that can accumulate in the body and cause many diseases, including cancer. It accumulates through the food chain[1]. In the Northern Cape, high levels of uranium have been linked to increased incidences of leukemia.

Uranium levels in the Wonderfonteinspruit (which flows from Gauteng into Northwest Province near Carletonville and then into a tributary of the Vaal) are similar to those in the Northern Cape areas. [2]

Mining companies’s liabilities for acid mine drainage

DRD Gold has an almost 44% share of the liabilities but has never accepted its apportionment of the liabilities. Rand Uranium has a 46% share of liabilities.

Mintails continues to pump and treat its 0.4% share of liabilities.

References and further sources of information

[1] Advanced Biochemical and Biophysical Aspects of Uranium Contamination paper by Chris Busby and Ewald Schnug http://www.ccamu.ca/areva/busby-appendix-b.htm

Radiological hazards from uranium mining paper by Bruno Chareyron of CRIIRAD, May 2009 http://www.uranium-network.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=45:radiological-hazards-from-uranium-mining-bruno-chareyron&catid=55:uranabbau&Itemid=30

[2] Uranium Pollution of Water Resources in Mined-Out and Active GoldFields of South Africa Ð A Case Study in the Wonderfonteinspruit Catchment on Extent and Sources of U-Contamination and Associated Health Risks, Frank Winde, North-West University, School of Environmental Sciences and Development, Potchefstroom. Abstracts of the International Mine Water Conference 19th Ð 23rd October 2009 Proceedings ISBN Number: 978-0-9802623-5-3 Pretoria, South Africa

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