Acid water leakage could hit Johannesburg in coming months
Government trying to figure out who pays the bill
Economy could be eroded by toxic leakage problem
The solutions are expensive, though not technically daunting - and must be implemented straightaway
Hippos at a reserve near Krugersdorp are going blind due to acid water run-off and fish are dying in polluted water near the Cradle of Humankind
South Africa's city of gold, Johannesburg, may soon start being eaten away by acidic water flowing from the mines that created its fortunes.
Mines dug more than a century ago stretching about 40km along one of the world’s largest gold deposits have reached their water storage limit and will start leaking a toxic cocktail of chemicals in the coming months, independent experts and government officials have said.
If left unchecked, acidic mine water is expected to foul up works near the country’s famed Apartheid Museum, flood basements in downtown Johannesburg and then seep into the streets of the city of about 4 million people.
"The threat of acid water decanting from old mine workings is a real and present danger.
"It poses a threat to our economy, environment, health and history," Terence McCarthy, a professor of geosciences at the University of Witwatersrand, wrote in a report.
Acid mine drainage has plagued derelict mines globally for decades but most of the damage has been in remote areas.
The problem for Johannesburg is that the city was built over its gold mines and that land now is home to some of the country’s biggest firms and greatest population densities.
About three years ago, the last major pump removing water from the mines stopped, signalling an end to a gold rush that brought wealth to a few while hundreds of thousands of black Africans went deep underground to dig.
Then the water began to accumulate in the massive underground cavities, reacting with rocks formed about 2,8 billion years ago and triggering chemical reactions that produced sulphuric acid, heavy metals, toxins and radiation.
The water, once several hundred metres underground, has been rising at an average rate of 15 metres per month, with the void expected to fill up completely in less than three years.
The leakage problems will be small at first and grow more costly the longer action is delayed, experts said.
McCarthy said the spillage can be avoided by immediately setting up two pump and treatment stations along the main gold reef to keep the water to at least 300 metres below the surface.
“The solutions are expensive, though not technically daunting — and must be implemented in a matter of months,” his report said.
PICKING UP THE BILL
The government agrees that urgent action is needed but has given little indication it will do anything before the acid water reaches underground facilities in Johannesburg.
A report from a government-appointed team of experts planned for release in early January has yet to see the light of day, prompting the opposition Democratic Alliance to say delays are putting lives at risk.
Along with finding a way to solve the problem, government has yet to figure out how to pay for it.
It cannot pass the bill onto firms since ownership of mines has changed hands so often and many firms have vanished. There also is not enough gold left to make it commercially viable for a new firm to go in — and pay for a clean up.
The environment ministry warned of the escalating costs of inaction about three years ago, saying in a report: “If the threat from acid mine drainage is not solved in the short to medium term, it is likely to persist for centuries to come.”
But environmental protection ranks low in the state’s budget with the government giving it half the funds it allocates to state workers to help them pay their rents and mortgages.
On top of the funding woes acid mine water clean up, the mining ministry is already struggling to fund a 1,46 billion rand ($202 million), 10-year plan for basic measures to prevent environmental damage from 6000 ownerless and derelict mines.
BLIND HIPPOS AND RADIOACTIVE LAKES
“We will not allow the situation to get out of hand; it will not reach crisis proportion,” Sandile Nogxina, Department of Mineral Resources director-general, told parliament last year.
But it has let the problem grow in the western Johannesburg suburbs, where acid mine water began leaking in 2002.
In towns such as Krugersdorp, acidic lakes dot the landscape near mammoth, open piles of chemicals extracted from mines.
Signs warning of radiation are posted outside a sludge filled pool of a copper coloured liquid, hippos at a nearby nature reserve are going blind due to what is thought to be acid water run-off and fish are dying in polluted water near the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site — a rich fossil site providing clues on the origin of humans.
“There is not insufficient information. The fact that government has not acted is astonishing,” said Mariette Liefferink, CEO of the Federation for a Sustainable Environment, who has campaigned for acid mine water clean up.
Liefferink is an expert on the mountains of iron pyrite dumps and toxic water leaks in the area as well as the devastating impact the pollution has had on the poor.
She warns that the country’s water supplies are increasingly at risk the more toxic water nears the surface and mixes with supplies of fresh water.
“Over 120 years, there were more than 120 mining companies who passed on or externalised their costs,” she said. “There are no short-term, medium or long-term plans put in place. It is just crisis management.”
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Comments
MISSJP
Y dont the guavament pay the bill just like he did with the escom account???????Report Abuse
QueenB
Tis is a serious crisis indeed oohhhh we so fried"It poses a threat to our economy, environment, health and history,"
Since 2002 wht were they doin n GOV. alwayz have little to say n shows no response to serious urgent matters
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KAPPA
We are going to die mos.acidic water this is not a joke.Report Abuse
Mantax
dont you think that R100m spent by the youth league would be of good use here? we talk about lives of citizen who pay up their tax to be taken care of, but look what is happening just one smart boy came into a pic to 100m for fruitless expenditure common GAUVAMENT!!Report Abuse
tattoodude
i think our awesome government would prefer to spent R100 mils on a youth festival this is not a priority and certainly neither it is a something that our government must worry about they'd rather worry about elections coming in the next month so let's wait and see if it's true that this acidic water leakage thing will indeed hit.Report Abuse
Xovizwe
Of course Mantax, Guavament screwed SA citizens big big time. But of course we didn't expect something better, I hate my self I ever voted fore these cabbages. Bunch of useless potatoes with extra large balds and beads, snoring the whole day in the office and get away with fat cheques we work hard for.Report Abuse
reason2010
What are the mining companies that are responsible for this doing, the current and previous mining companies that owned the mines should pay for the damage they didReport Abuse
QueenB
@Bloggers its sad hey GOLOMENTE failing its own ppl over n over n over again now we r sooo goin to die n after d GOV. spent how much on sum stupid festival nxeeeeeeeeeeeee since 2002 i still wanna knw wht the've been doingReport Abuse
hotitoti
Move to limpopoLOL the water is natural
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vicky
All the ANCs drink the acid water and go to heaven. This is a shame as heaven party now has turned into a man with a fork. You are an embarassment our presidentReport Abuse
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