Investigations conducted by the Environment Council of Zambia (ECZ) has revealed that Lumwana East river in Solwezi was not polluted by uranium discharged by Lumwana mine as alleged by media reports.
ECZ Public Relations Officer Bwalya Nondo disclosed that ECZ have also dispelled reports of crops and other plants being burnt by alleged uranium contaminants .
He explained that a comprehensive report submitted to Minister of Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources Catherine Namugala today on the reported pollution incident by Lumwana mine has revealed that there was no trace of pollution.
In a press release made available to ZANIS in Lusaka today, Mr. Nondo said analysis carried out on water in the Tailings Storage Facility (TSF) and on water released into the environment revealed no trace of pollution and that discharged water was within statutory limits.
“The report further reveals that samples collected from boreholes, the main source of domestic water in the community down stream of Lumwana East, did not show any raised levels of radiation in the water. River water is mostly used for crop irrigation in the dry season, and as such, no crops or any other plant were burnt or affected by any uranium discharge as reported in the press”, he said.
The Public Relations Officer disclosed that Lumwana mine has not commenced any uranium production and that, the copper extraction process does not employ a method used that requires use of sulphuric acid which could be harmful to plants in the event of pollution to the environment.
Mr. Nondo further explained that the local community was informed that Lumwana mine would be discharging water into the river and advised them not to drink it because it was dirty and muddy.
He said the Tourism Minister has since commended ECZ for promptly investigating the pollution incident in Solwezi.
Mr. Nondo said Ms Namugala has since assured the nation that her ministry through ECZ will closely monitor Lumwana mine and other industries to ensure that their operations were environmentally friendly, and not a danger to human life and the environment.
ZANIS/PM/MKM/ENDS
Yall need to get serious coz there is no smoke without fire. This pollution story must be investigated further. People died in Ivory coast coz of such carelessness ECZ should provide their report to the public.
True true!
Chachine mwe. Was watchin discovery on telly the other day and there was a myterious disease killing off frogs in a series of tuma ponds in some rural america place.
After investigation the initial pollution that caused a certain strain of fungus to mutate and kill the frogs was caused by mining pollution in trace amounts some 9 years earlier!!!
Akukaneni not until people start dying from unknown diseases
True Ponyax, I would be very much at easy if the assurance was from a technical person in the ministry ,not the Minister.Surely they aught to be some levels of uranium in the river though not significant as at the time of the sampling . But warranting strong vigilance
These people will never learn how to take issues seriouslyy. T hey wait till a calamity occurs. and that is usually too late…
How much money changed hands before that report was falsified?
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There is need to educate people about this uranium mineral because people are blowing it out of propotion due to lack of knowledge. Lumwana will be the first mine to start processing this mineral in Zambia and there is very little knowledge about it. The only scant knowledge people have is that it was used in the atomic bomb in Japan during world war II. The uranium used in the bomb was pure uranium and the uranium found at Lumwana is still in ore form and the hazards associated with it are minimal as long as one use the required Personal Protective Equipment. The uranium in the ore can be harmful just like the silica is in all copper ore.
Am i banned from blogging
Its not as if Lumwana owners and the govt would confess to something like this coz not only would they lose their business in Zambia, they would be on FBI’s top list of terrorist suspects…. lol!!
By why would ECZ find it appropriate for Lumwana to dump rubbish into the river. This is not normal. This river and the life in it and around it will all die. Is this environmental protection I wonder? I am pissed off!
lumwana mine hasn’t started mining uranium yet? okay, are they bloody exploring? yes, then that’s the source!!! in those streams water flows and by the time ECZ went to scene elements of nature would have taken there toll, what skills are in ECZ for them to take such a test? tell us. if you are sitting on any truth soon or later we will know and we will know with a bang. will you be able to handle it? thy shall not play games with uranium in ore, its as harmful as ever, what methods are lumwana using when mining those samples for exploration and testing in Europe or is it Canada. the time ECZ took to announce the results is too fast, it makes me feel they just concluded from their offices.