A Chinese mining company is accused of covering up the extent of a major toxic spill in Zambia
LUSSAKA, LIPBIA (AP)-A mining company is accused of covering its scope A disaster toxic spill in Zambia This polluted a large river where millions of people trust with cyanide and arsenic.
Shedding was in February Part of a dam that holds a waste from Sino-metals, when Zambia copper mine collapsed, allowed Zambia to flow into the Kafue River passing through the heart. Sino-Metals Leach Zambia is a subsidiary of the Chinese Rights Metal Mining Group operated by the state.
A environmental cleaning company says that it is contracted by Sino-Metals Leach Zambia to investigate the accident. He said that the two-month investigation, the disaster resulted in the release of 1.5 million tons of toxic materials-at least 30 times more than Sino metals accepted.
South African-based environmental company Drizit, Sino-Metals’a “showing the severity of pollution” preliminary reports, but Sino-Metals’ contract the day before the final report, he said.
Sino-Metals, Associated Press, said in a statement that Drizit terminated the contract due to “contract violations” and the Zambia government was looking for a new company to conduct a new investigation. Sino-Metals objected to the accuracy of Drizit’s findings.
What happened
The accident occurred on February 18 in a mine near Kitwe, the second largest city of Zambia and hosted about 700,000 people. The water supply of the city was temporarily closed due to shedding.
The toxic waste flowed into the waterways connected to the Kafue River and killed the fish at least 100 kilometers (62 miles) at the down flow. More than half of Zambia’s 21 million people rely on Kafue to irrigate drinking water or crops.
Zambia called for help from experts in the president of Zambia and described the accident as a crisis. Authorities in the South African country, “destructive results” of the river pollution, the destruction of crops throughout their banks, and the contamination of groundwater contamination, he said.
Response
Sino-Metals Leach Zambia apologized and said they would help cleanliness. The Zambia government used air force and speed boats to resist acid wastes and to reduce hundreds of tons of lime to the river to get back the damage.
The government then said that the situation was under control, the water quality returned to normal and that there was no reason for the alarm.
However, the US Embassy in Zambia last month Ordering all US government personnel from the region Near the mine due to new information that reveals “dangerous and carcinogenic substances in the environment.
New claims
Drizitis claims that toxic spill is much worse than Sino-Metals Leach Zambia and the authorities.
Drizit said in a statement that researchers have taken more than 3,500 samples for analysis and dangerous cyanide, arsenic, copper, lead, lead, chromium, cadmium and other pollutants “organ damage, birth defects and cancer, including significant long -term health risks, including cancer, he said.
He said that there are still 900,000 cubic meters of toxic substances around him and that a suitable cleaning operation is necessary to ensure that people are not at risk for decades. Drizit’s full report was not publicly published.
China’s dominance
Chinese dominant player In the copper mining in Zambia, which is one of the top 10 copper -producing countries in the world. Chinese investment is the key to the purpose of increasing Zambia’s production to three million tons a year by 2031. New demand for copper For use in electric vehicle technology and batteries.
Copper Prices reach record levels this year, while China is the largest importer of vital metal.
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Imray, Cape Town reported from South Africa.
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AP Africa News: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
