THE Zambian government has refuted an independent estimate of toxic acid spillage from a Chinese state-owned copper mine, insisting cleanup operations have commenced following the February disaster, said Bloomberg News.
Acting Minister of Green Economy and Environment Collins Nzovu backed Sino Metals Leach Zambia Ltd.’s assessment of the spillage volume, rejecting allegations the disaster may have been 30 times worse than initially reported.
“Based on the records that we have, the estimated amount of the acid waste that was released in the open environment was 51,800 cubic metres,” Nzovu stated on Wednesday. This contradicts findings by Drizit Zambia, which was contracted to conduct an environmental assessment and estimated as much as 1.5 million tons of toxic material escaped.
The disaster near Kitwe, Zambia’s second-largest city, has prompted health warnings from embassies including the United States and Finland. Whilst the government maintains drinking water remains safe for humans, it acknowledged finding dangerous levels of heavy metals in some natural water body samples last month.
Sino Metals has begun removing visible pollution and residue from an area stretching eight kilometres from where the waste dam burst. The company dismissed Drizit’s assessment as “misleading and devoid of factual, scientific and technical basis” after terminating the contractor’s agreement.
Drizit had warned nearby communities faced daily exposure to hazardous materials including arsenic, cyanide and uranium. The company maintains it stands by its assessment.
Zambia will select a new environmental impact assessor by September 15, with work expected to commence by the month’s third week.
