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Vusumuzi Dube Sunday News Reporter
THE Environmental Management Agency has warned diamond mining companies in the Marange area that it will soon descend on them for reportedly polluting water sources in the district and exposing villagers to a number of water borne diseases. This comes in the backdrop of recent developments where the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (Zela) and villagers living along Save River approached the High Court of Zimbabwe, seeking an order to bar three diamond mining companies — Anjin Investments, Marange Resources and Diamond Mining Corporation (DMC) — from polluting Save, Singwizi and Odzi rivers.
Speaking on the sidelines of a media tour of Birchenough Bridge, EMA education and communications manager Mr Steady Kangata said the pollution of these rivers was a worrying phenomenon that needed a hands-on approach against these diamond firms.
He said it was fortunate that there was no chemical pollution to talk about but as far as the environment was concerned pollution was pollution.
“The fact is that when it comes to diamond companies we are mainly dealing with slurry. This means there is no chemical pollution to talk about but because of their discharges into these rivers, the firms end up disturbing the colour of the said rivers, which becomes pollution and it is because of this phenomenon that we have resolved to descend hard on these firms.
“We have told them that they should have closed systems, where they do not discharge anything into these rivers. They should really identify alternative means of discharging of their slurry without polluting the rivers because honestly if it is left uncontrolled it will certainly get out of hand soon,” said Mr Kangata.
He revealed that they had already approached the firms, warning them against their discharge.
“While we have already warned these diamond firms, I cannot really say how they have reacted off the cuff because we are yet to dispatch our inspectors but judging from the colour of the water, there is not much change although I must emphasise that this is an ongoing process. They might have closed their systems but it will surely take some time for the water to regain its natural colour,” he said.
Meanwhile, in the High Court application, Zela and the villagers alleged that the three diamond firms were polluting Save, Singwizi and Odzi rivers with sewage, chemicals and metal deposits.
Zela said the discharge by Anjin, Marange Resources and DMC exposed inhabitants of villages living along the banks of Odzi, Singwizi and Save Rivers to risks of contracting diseases such as cancer, cholera and typhoid.
On July 23 this year, Zela through their lawyers, Scanlen & Holderness, wrote to Anjin demanding that the company cease discharging pollutants into the Save, Singwizi and Odzi rivers.
“Investigations made show that the source of the discharges is your mine operations, our instructions are to demand from you, as we hereby do, that you cease discharging the polluting material into the Odzi River failing which we will take legal action without notice to you,” reads part of the letter.
But in a letter dated 26 July 2012, Anjin denied discharging pollutants into the rivers saying water containing mud was filtered in sedimentation ponds to avoid pollution.
The company claimed to have constructed 20 sedimentation ponds.
However, they acknowledged discharging “one or two times”, revealing that they had been fined by Ema on these occasions.
A biological and chemical study carried out by the University of Zimbabwe in July this year, confirmed that people who live along rivers in the area were at risk of contracting cancer and other diseases because the companies were dumping dangerous chemicals into the three rivers.
It said the three rivers showed high concentrations of iron, chromium and nickel in the water, elements which are the major constituents of ferro-silicon, a chemical compound used in diamond extraction.
“Chromium and nickel are potentially carcinogenic agents (cancer-causing agents) and therefore they pose an immediate health risk to people and livestock,” says the study.
According to the study, high levels of fluoride in the water posed the risk of diseases such as dental and skeletal fluorosis. Dental fluorosis relates to the poor development of the teeth while skeletal fluorosis is a bone disease caused by excessive consumption of fluoride.
Online Reporter