Having found that there was no proper monitoring system in place at the breached reservoir owned by Guyana Manganese Inc. (GMI) in Matthews Ridge, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has warned that the deficiency must be addressed, Executive Director Kemraj Parsram said yesterday.
Last Thursday, a section of the reservoir belonging to Chinese-owned GMI collapsed, releasing a torrent of water that washed away a section of the road which connects Matthews Ridge to Port Kaituma and flooded surrounding areas.
Region One Chairman Brentnol Ashley said that a compromised drainage system is suspected to be the primary cause of the collapse. Ashley said that from all indications the company did not change drainage pipes that were laid years ago. The integrity of the pipes, he said, is believed to have been compromised by the volume of water in the reservoir.
This statement was echoed by Parsram, who explained that the reservoir was the Company’s source of fresh water used during mining operations. Initially a lake, GMI built a structure around it so that rain water can be captured and stored. GMI pumps the water using pipes to their mining pit located some distance away from the reservoir.
The Director disclosed that assessments done by the Agency found that water exceeded the capacity of the structure, resulting in part of the reservoir collapsing. He said they also found that here was no proper monitoring system in place.
He noted that process water goes into a tailings pond which is separate from the reservoir, hence it is believed that the reservoir contains nothing but pure fresh water. However, Parsram said when the team visited the area, they collected samples of the water to test if it was contaminated.
“We took water samples just to ensure that there is no contamination from anything else. It will be tested in a lab but will take some time,” he told Stabroek News.
GMI has since been notified to improve on the monitoring aspects of their operations, Parsram added. The breach has since been sealed.
At the time of the flooding, GMI was producing manganese on a small scale and several employees were on duty. The flash flooding from last Thursday forced at least seven families to move to higher grounds. Two homes were completed flooded by the water that escaped from the reservoir and a family had to seek support from trees as the force of the floodwater was extremely strong.
“It happened very suddenly. We had to think fast but we can swim so we held on to the trees to help us,” an affected resident told this newspaper last Thursday via phone. Her family was eventually rescued from the trees by GMI employees.
GMI is currently engaged in the reconstruction of a washed away section of the road, since the community was cut off from other areas.
Work commenced Friday last and the company is still rebuilding and upgrading the road which connects with Port Kaituma.
The collapsed reservoir washed away about 20 feet of the public road, isolating the community and flooding several farms and homes. A temporary path was constructed to allow vehicular traffic to flow.
GMI is yet to comment on the situation despite several attempts by this newspaper to contact the company.
GMI had its Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the Region One project approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in May of this year.
The mine was closed in March of 2019 when workers carrying out scoping works took ill and two – 47-year-old Zhenglong Zong, and 45-year-old Zengguo Ji, both Chinese nationals – subsequently died from what the company said was leptospirosis and respiratory failure
After the two workers succumbed, the Chinese government made a request for the 10 sick workers – all Chinese nationals – to be flown back home for medical attention. This request was granted and the men were flown back to their home country.
