Bauxite miner Bosai will be fined approximately $1 million for a spill from the company’s tailings pond that occurred on Thursday morning, affecting the environment and residents in the Linden community of Noitgedacht, and has also been ordered to halt the discharge of waste into the pond.
This was disclosed by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Executive Director Dr Vincent Adams when he and a team visited Bosai’s Linden operations yesterday. The EPA team inspected the tailings pond where the breach occurred, the Kara Kara River into which the discharge flowed, and also met with affected residents of Noitgedacht. Some EPA employees had also assessed the situation on Thursday.
Following the visits, Bosai and EPA officials met to discuss several “technical matters.” This is the second time that the Chinese company has been slapped with a fine from the EPA in less than a month.
Explaining how the spill occurred, Adams told Stabroek News yesterday that when the bauxite ore is washed, the wastewater goes into a tailings pond for the sediments to settle after which it is discharged into the Kara Kara creek, which flows into the Demerara River. He noted that works were in progress to extend the tailings pond so as to increase settlement time, and ensure that the turbidity of the water discharged into the creek was lower. This would address the issue which led to the fine late last year. Work was also underway to shore up the surrounding dyke so that it would not overtop during heavy rains.
During these works, Adams explained, a pipe via which the wastewater is discharged “failed”, causing the wastewater to seep into the dyke, damaging a section. It then flowed downhill of Bosai’s operation, to residential areas.
Adams criticised the measures being implemented as not being properly thought out, and shared that the EPA is working with Bosai to implement a permanent solution to the issue.
The purpose of yesterday’s meeting with Bosai, he said, was to understand what took place, assess the impact to the environment, and to begin talks about a lasting solution to the issues.
He also pointed out that the EPA has ordered Bosai to halt the discharge of wastewater into the tailings pond until new measures have been put in place to prevent a reoccurrence of the breach. This means that while the company can run the bauxite through the kiln, no washing of the ore can take place.
Adams said that any processed bauxite would therefore have to be stockpiled. He noted that the company has indicated that it only has space to stockpile seven days’ worth of bauxite, but also that it can complete the measures required for the tailings pond in the same amount of time.
The EPA head, however, said that he is more concerned with the construction of a proper, functional mechanism, and regardless of how long it takes, permission will not be given to recommence discharging into the tailings pond until the EPA is satisfied with the measures implemented.
Fined
Adams observed that Thursday’s spill was related to another environmental incident at the same operation in November, for which the bauxite company has already been fined.
Stabroek News had previously reported that Bosai was fined $1 million last month for wastewater discharges from its tailings pond into the Kara Kara Creek which occurred in November. The company was summoned to the EPA on December 24th, when it was fined and directed to immediately stop discharges into the Kara Kara Creek even if it meant shutting down its operations.
Adams had previously explained that “…there were discharges into the [Kara Kara] creek. The water was discoloured and the turbidity was very high. The material is not toxic but it’s the physical impairment issue. Besides the aesthetics, living things in the creek need oxygen to survive and this was a hindrance to that.” A source had told this newspaper that an overflow due to heavy rainfall had led to the discharge as the tailings pond didn’t have the capacity to hold certain amounts of liquid.
Yesterday, Adams said that the permanent solution to be implemented has to account for heavy rainfall.
He also shared that the EPA will be seeking to test for contaminants in the wastewater, including chemicals and metals. “Nobody has ever been measuring what is going in and what is coming [out],” Adams said. He added that this would enable the EPA to be better placed to ascertain the environmental impact of Bosai’s operation.
Asked why such tests were never done before, Bosai officials suggested that it may be because the process of bauxite production does not include the use of metals or chemicals.
Acting Bosai General Manager Keny Peng told Stabroek News that Bosai has already identified, and is in conversation with a firm with a view towards carrying out the testing the EPA now requires, and also to create the new design for the tailings pond. Norman McLean, Bosai’s Company Secretary, shared that the firm already has a design which it intends to modify to ensure it meets the specifications required by the EPA
Compensation
Meanwhile, Truedel Marks, a Bosai official, said that yesterday the company asked the residents who were affected to provide them with estimates of their losses and damages. She said that those estimates were provided and Bosai will be honouring them in full. The company has not contested any of the amounts provided. She declined, however, to say how much it will be paying out.
Trucks from Bosai were seen frequently traversing the affected area yesterday morning. According to Marks, they were trying to locate residents to compensate them for their losses. She said that the company was hoping to finish compensating the residents by midday, but this was delayed because some persons were not at home when they visited.
She said that after the meeting with the EPA, the company would be returning to the area to compensate the affected residents.
Denise Gordon, who spoke with Stabroek News on Thursday when the incident occurred, said Bosai replaced damaged vinolay on the same day and yesterday she said employees had dropped off financial compensation.
Another resident, Rochelle Arthur, who lives in the bottom flat of one of the affected houses, said she learnt of the spill after she woke up and placed her feet into a thick substance. She said many of her belongings were either damaged or lost. When Stabroek News visited her apartment yesterday, several items of furniture, household electronics and other items were stacked in a corner of the yard.
Arthur said she was promised compensation by Bosai, but had not collected it as yet as she was at work when they came to the area.
Another resident, Roxanne Greene-Marshall, said that employees from Bosai came to the area to wash away the substance, which she said was very thick. Greene-Marshall said a stove, beds, and furniture were affected, and Bosai promised that they would replace them all.
Adams told the residents that he was sorry that the spill occurred, and assured them that the EPA was working with the company for the implementation of a permanent solution to ensure this does not occur again.
Furniture and other items affected by the spill were placed in the sun to dry after being cleaned.
EPA officials boarding their vehicles to head to a meeting with Bosai officials at the Watooka Guest House after speaking with a resident.
