Cape Town - The environmental affairs and tourism department has waded into the long-running battle to halt the pollution of underground water by giving five gold mining companies seven days to prevent their operations polluting underground water supplies or face heavy fines and/or closure.
Chief director of communications JP Louw said the warnings issued on Monday by director-general Pam Yako followed "increasingly worrying" signs the mines were polluting underground water supplies in the Klerksdorp/ Orkney/Stilfontein/Hartebeestfontein (Kosh) Basin.
The companies are AngloGold, Harmony, DRDGold, Stilfontein and Buffelsfontein, which is in provisional liquidation.
They were given seven days to make representations as to why Yako should not issue them with directives in terms of the National Environmental Management Act (Nema).
The five mines had already been served with a number of similar directives by the department of water affairs and forestry, and although some had complied, his department had decided to use the powers given it under Nema to increase the pressure on the mines.
AngloGold Ashanti said yesterday it was confident that it had "fully complied" with the directives, but said there were clearly problems at Stilfontein and Buffelsfontein, in particular.
Parliamentarians had been complaining for years that not enough was being done to crack down on major polluters, but Louw said he was confident that the powers now vested with the department could be an important deterrent to polluters.
The directives would compel the mines to manage both underground and surface water by treating it, reusing it or discharging it at a site approved by the department of water affairs and forestry.
They should also either pump or contribute to the costs of pumping specific volumes of water from various mine shafts in the Kosh Basin; monitor and provide detailed monitoring reports to the environmental affairs and tourism department; inform and educate their employees about the environmental risks; and provide the department with a report assessing the potential impact of the pollution and how this could be eliminated.
"The water found underground in mine shafts becomes increasingly polluted by becoming excessively acidic through exposure to pyrite, which is a chemical process caused directly by gold mining activities," Louw said.
"As a result, the acidic water dissolves heavy metals, which have extremely detrimental impacts on the environment and are toxic to humans."
Source: businessreport.co.za
- CBCSD and Members Participated and Suggested on the Project for Technical Regulation on Low-carbon Pilot Community
- CBCSD and Members Participated in the APEC Cooperation Network Construction Forum of Green Supply Chain
- Calculation Method of CO2 Emissions in Petroleum and Natural Gas Exploitation Enterprises & Calculation Method of CO2 Emissions in Water Network of Chemical Enterprises
- CBCSD Attended the Workshop for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development and Delivered Introductions
- WBCSD: Tackling the Challenge, How to Make Informed Choices on Forest Product?
- The National New-Type Urbanization Plan Released, Board Members of CBCSD Help the Sustainable Development of Cities
- Board members of CBCSD Actively Participated in the Carbon Trading and International Climate Change Process
- Two industrial Standards Compiled by CBCSD Passed Examination
- Widespread Use of the Achievements Businesses Energy Saving and Greenhouse Gas Management
- CBCSD held Chemical industry enterprise value chain (range 3) greenhouse gas emissions, accounting and reporting guidelines
