Due to fears of toxic depositories in mine ponds, Klang MP Charles Santiago has asked that the Selangor State government conduct and make the health certifications public before transferring the water to Sungai Selangor.
Currently, there are eight pumps are drawing 400 MLD of fresh water from these abandoned mining ponds in order to fill the Sungai Selangor dam, as a measure to combat the water crisis in the state.
The Selangor Menteri Besar (MB) Khalid Ibrahim is reported to have said that mine pond water is cleaner than river water and that the Health Department saw no health concerns and therefore it is safe for human use.
“I have received many phone calls of concern from people including health professionals who are not convinced of the MB’s argument. They are requesting for health certification from the Ministry of Health and chemical content details of these mine-ponds. ,” said Santiago who added that there is a fear that these abandoned mine-ponds have over the years become depositories of polluting and toxic substances including radioactive materials.
“Most of the mine-ponds would not have been managed or treated for rehabilitation. This notion is supported by research in other countries where abandoned mines discharge mine water containing heavy metals and other metals and which are known to contaminate rivers, and lakes,” he said.
The Klang MP also said that the treatment plants are not equipped to clean heavy metals and toxic substances, and that such a scenario has a tendency to create a major health crisis.
“Thus I call upon the Selangor state government to make public the Health Department’s report on the status for each of the mine-ponds. Furthermore, the report should detail the chemical content including polluting or toxic substances, if any, in the various mines,” he said. -The Rocket
Your concern is valid as it has been proven when pumping mining pond water, mine tailings are inadvertently pumped out as well. The damage to the water and also environment depends on the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction (gangue) of an ore. Tailings are distinct from overburden, which is the waste rock or materials overlying an ore or mineral body that are displaced during mining without being processed. There are known cases where entire lakes or rivers habitat have been destroyed due to such contamination which is why it is illegal to dump them into freshwater ponds or rivers. Please pursue this danger with great urgency, stop the pumping until conclusive evidence is available from independant accredited labs.