Bauxite is a rock that is mainly composed of various minerals. Most
importantly, bauxite is the primary ore for aluminum. Aluminum is a very
crucial element as its uses are varied and diverse - such as its usage in
transportation, household items, packaging, power lines, and construction. In
Malaysia, the active bauxite mine is located in Gebeng, Pahang. However, the
mine - while strengthening the economy as well as serving as a lucrative source
of income for many people - is also causing intense suffering to the locals.
Bauxite mining has
indeed caused pollution around Bukit Goh, Gebeng and the Kuantan Port. For
months, certain areas in the district - particularly Bukit Goh - have suffered
serious air pollution from bauxite dust and residue that were released by the
processing plants or leaked during transportation to the Kuantan Port.
This pollution has
damaged the roads, the river and more recently, the bauxite residue has been
flowing out to the sea due to heavy rain showers .
It was previously reported that local citizens had been alarmed at the colour
of the sea turning red. Several fatal accidents were
also caused by lorries transporting bauxite. These lorries caused further
traffic congestion as the drivers parked their lorries indiscriminately on the
roads. Additionally, the poorly regulated mining of bauxite could be just as
severe, as the ecosystem may never recover from this.
Such irresponsible
practices has caused adverse health effects to the people who live near the
mining sites, too. Natural bauxite ore consists of aluminum hydroxide, iron
oxide, titanium oxide and reactive silica - the substances of which affect
human health. Aluminum hydroxide is the main content of the bauxite ore, which
is 32-52 percent. Excessive exposure of aluminum hydroxide could be detrimental
to health as pain and reddening of the nose, coughing, pain and redness of the
skin, along with peeling and itching eyes, are among the significant effects of
exposure to bauxite dust.
Studies have shown
that these materials could lead to neurological problems such as chronic brain
syndrome, anxiety for no reason, forgetfulness, or Alzheimer's and Parkinson's
disease in adults. It is noted that the content of iron oxide in bauxite is
15-34 percent, less compared to aluminum hydroxide. Iron oxide is the substance
that causes the roads, river and sea to become reddish. Long-term exposure of
iron oxide to the respiratory system could lead to the accumulation of iron in
the liver tissue and affect the functioning of the liver system. The situation
is thus worsened for people with thalassemia and hemophilia or those suffering
from swelling of the liver and spleen. Next, titanium oxide is the third
content in bauxite. Exposure of this substance may give an adverse effect to
those who suffer from eczema skin, heart problems and liver problems. Moreover,
the content of reactive silica in bauxite is 1-8 percent. Exposure to high
concentrations can cause shortness of breath, chest pain, fatigue, fainting or
even death. Longer periods of exposure cause the inflammation of the lungs.
Then it will become worse and cause problems such as chronic bronchitis or
acute respiratory infections silicosis.
Bauxite mining has
become a good source of income for many people - especially low-income earners.
However, a responsible action plan should be taken by the regulators to
strictly enforce safety and health regulations and ensure the consumers’ well-being.
The bauxite mining industry may become a good fortune for every person if and
only if the mining operators and the transport contractors responsibly manage
the mining and transportation operations according to the rules and regulations
that have been set.
Let’s not forget that
the public has a right to obtain a healthy and safe environment.
The Lynas Advanced
Materials Plant (LAMP) in Gebeng, Pahang, claims to be the world’s largest rare
earth refinery project. Such industrial projects generate enormous volumes of
toxic and radioactive waste and are linked with serious environmental pollution
and health risks. LAMP is located in a densely populated area, with the nearest
housing estate a mere 2 kilometres away and 700,000 people living within a 30
kilometre radius. It is the Malaysian subsidiary of an Australian company,
Lynas Corporation, which mines rare earths in Mount Weld, Western Australia. There
has been widespread public opposition to the Lynas plant as Malaysians are
painfully aware of the serious health and environmental hazards of processing
rare earth elements, when there is no stringent regulation and control,
reinforced by Malaysia’s unreliable maintenance and safety culture, as a result
of irregular enforcement of the law, lax attitudes to safety regulations and
procedures in occupational health, and inadequately trained and motivated
personnel.
In
the 1980s, the Asian Rare Earth (ARE) refinery company, owned by the Mitsubishi
Chemical company, failed to safely dispose of its industrial waste, containing
radioactive thorium hydroxide. Workers and the neighbouring community were
exposed to ionising radiation, resulting in several birth defects and leukaemia
cases among the 11,000 people living in Bukit Merah and Papan, Perak. Seven of
the eight cases of leukaemia were fatal. Public protests and legal action
eventually forced Mitsubishi Chemical to close its operations in 1992 and agree
to an out-of-court settlement with the residents of Bukit Merah. The clean-up
has cost the company an estimated US$100 million.
A
similar scenario of health and environmental problems is unfolding among rare
earth refineries in China, which possesses 57% of the world’s reserves of rare
earth elements and controls 95% of the world’s markets.
Ionising
radiation
It
is important to understand the health effects of ionising radiation, which can
be defined as radiation that has sufficient energy to displace electrons from
molecules. Human beings are exposed to radiation from both natural and man-made
sources. Very high doses of radiation will damage tissues which can be evident
within days after exposure, whereas low levels of radiation are insidious and
may take years to show up late effects, such as cancer.
The
report of the Biological Exposure to Ionising Radiation VII (BEIR VII)
committee of the US National Academy of Sciences concludes that current
scientific evidence is consistent with the hypothesis that there is a linear
dose-response relationship between exposure to ionising radiation and the
development of radiation-induced solid cancers in humans. In other words, there
is no safe threshold of exposure to ionising radiation and, therefore, exposure
to even the smallest dose has the potential to increase the risk to humans.1
Public
reaction
Thousands
of Malaysians have joined two non-governmental organisations, which have
organised public protests, taken legal action, and demanded closure of the Lynas
plant. But the Pahang state government and the federal government continue to
dismiss public sentiment and openly support the project, which will inevitably
contaminate the environment and cause health problems for the 700,000 people
who live within a radius of 30 kilometres.
The
plant in Gebeng will make a lot of money for Lynas Corporation, which has
received a 12-year tax exemption, and for those Malaysians with vested
interests in the project. Undoubtedly, it is the profit motive that is driving
the project and suppressing genuine community concerns about public health and
environmental dangers.
The
Malaysian government and its business cronies have garnered the support of
several groups who favour government policy and the Lynas project, including
the Academy of Sciences Malaysia and the National Professors Council, who claim
to have conducted ‘comprehensive’ studies and made an ‘independent’ joint
report, Rare Earth Industries: Moving Malaysia’s Green Economy Forward.
While the report concedes that radioactive and chemical waste,
generated by rare earth industrial plants, poses risks to health and the
environment, it also incredibly claims that it is possible to manage and
mitigate such risks safely, that “Malaysia’s regulatory standards on rare
earths follow
international standards”
and that “Malaysia’s regulatory regime is even more stringent than
international guidelines.” 2
The two academic groups
need to be reminded of the country’s litany of serious industrial accidents and
the government’s breathtaking abandonment of fundamental principles and
mandatory procedures, when it issued a construction licence for the massive,
polluting Lynas plant in 2008 before the
completion of a detailed Environmental Impact Assessment. In addition, the
Atomic Energy Licencing Board (AELB) also jumped the gun when it issued Lynas a
Temporary Operating Licence on 30th January 2012, not having made an unbiased, independent
assessment and evaluation of the risks posed by the plant. This reflects some
of the cavalier attitudes of some government ministries and their regulating
bodies.
Having
grave doubts that Lynas is in a position to genuinely guarantee the safety of
its temporary and permanent disposal of its toxic and radioactive waste, two
non-governmental organisations have organised public protests and submitted
appeals and affidavits by technical experts.
Realising
the importance of independent environmental assessment and evaluation, one of
the NGOs, Save Malaysia Stop Lynas, commissioned
Oeko-Institut e.V. to assess and evaluate the risks. Oeko-Institut is a leading
European research and consultancy group, based in Darmstadt, Germany, with a
reputation for sound engineering practices and a commitment to ecology and
human welfare.
Summary
of Oeko-Institut report
Oeko-Institut was tasked with:
§ independently checking whether the technical
standards applied by Lynas meet “best available technology” and sustainability
criteria
§ clarifying the risks and consequences of any
failure of control and lack of adequate oversight
§ recommending necessary controls and oversight to
limit risks and consequences, if any.
Lynas’
production process
The production process consists of
four stages:
1.
Cracking stage: In this first stage,
the ore concentrate (which contains the radioactive elements of thorium and
uranium) is dissolved by mixing it with concentrated sulphuric acid and heating
it to 350 – 450oC.
Sulphuric acid vapour and sulphur dioxide in the gas stream are treated in the
flue gas desulphurization (FGD) facility, and neutralised with lime (CaCO3)
to form a mixture of gypsum (calcium sulphate) and calcium sulphite.
1.
Water leach and purification process:
The concentrated sulphuric acid solution with the dissolved materials is
diluted with water and treated with magnesium oxide to reduce the pH of the
solution, thereby precipitating several by-products. Insoluble ore concentrate
components and precipitated by-products are filtered, washed and finally
transported as a paste to a storage facility (water leach purification residue
storage facility, WLP-RSF).
1.
Separation stage: The solution is
then mixed with hydrochloric acid (HCl) and the different rare element
chlorides are extracted in seven single extraction stages, after removing
impurities.
1.
Product-finishing stage: The
different extraction liquids are treated with sodium carbonate, neutralised
with magnesium oxide and precipitated with sodium carbonate solution or with
oxalic acid, filtered, and either marketed as such or followed by additional
stages to yield marketable products.
Input
materials of the refining process
The input materials of the refining
process consist of the following:
§ Ore concentrate
§ Water, either as raw water or as supernatant
solution, as well as precipitation collected from the water leach purification
(WLP) storage pond.
§ Natural gas for heating the kilns.
§ Concentrated sulphuric acid for digesting the ore.
§ Concentrated hydrochloric acid for the separation
stage.
§ Magnesium oxide for neutralising the hydrochloric
acid.
§ Soda ash and lime for neutralising the hydrochloric
acid.
§ Oxalic acid for purification of products.
§ Solvent and kerosene for separation and extraction.
Output
materials of the refining process
The output materials of the refining
process consist of the following:
§ Diverse rare earth elements (lanthanum, cerium,
praseodymium, etc) which are marketable products.
§ Discharged waste water.
§ Discharged offgas.
§ Several waste streams to be stored, re-used or
disposed.
§ Used chemicals, especially solvents and kerosene,
to be treated, cleaned and recycled externally.
The environmental impact of the Lynas
plant will largely be determined by the manner in which the plant’s input
materials are transported and stored and its toxic and radioactive waste
managed.
The Oeko-Institut report has
expressed grave concerns about the inevitable consequences of Lynas’ incoherent
waste management concept. The absence of relevant data in documents prevents
any reliable accounting for all toxic materials introduced into the process,
such as the amounts of toxic by-products present in the ore concentrate,
including thorium.
The
Lynas toxic and radioactive waste problem
The Lynas plant in Gebeng has a
serious waste problem. It is estimated that it will import 66,000 tonnes of ore
concentrate from Australia every year and process the ore to yield about 22,000
tonnes of high purity rare earth metals, which will then be exported to the
United States, Europe and Japan where they will play a strategic role in high
technology industries for manufacturing consumer goods, such as computers,
mobile phones and hybrid cars.
In the process, the Lynas plant will
also produce enormous amounts of toxic and radioactive waste. The production of
every tonne of rare earth metals will generate 8.5 kilograms (18.7 lbs) of
fluorine, 13 kilograms (28.7 lbs) of dust, 9,600 – 12,000 cubic metres of waste
gas (containing dust concentrate, hydrofluoric acid, sulphur dioxide and
sulphuric acid), 75 cubic metres of acidic waste-water, and about one ton of radioactive
waste, including thorium and uranium. So, multiply these figures on
waste by a factor of 22,000 and it
will give you a clear picture of the total volume of waste, amounting to about
220,000 tonnes (including 120 tonnes of radioactive thorium), to be disposed of
every year.
In addition, the process will use up
and pollute 500 tonnes of clean water every hour. This enormous volume of
polluted water will then be discharged into the BalokRiver and will eventually
contaminate the South China Sea.
Waste
management
Each of the three waste streams,
which stem from the three different stages of the plant – Water Leach
Purification (WLP), Neutralisation Underflow (WUF), and Flue Gas
Desulphurization (FGD) – will have a very different composition.
It is unfortunate that the documents,
made accessible to Oeko-Institut, did not provide complete or reliable
information on the leaching characteristics of the wastes, which would
determine subsequent storage and disposal of the wastes. However, it is likely
that 99% of the radioactive thorium and radium constituents in the ore
concentrate are present in the WLP waste stream.
As such characteristics of the three
waste streams are not known, only a few “generic” assumptions could be made,
including that the radio- toxic and chemo-toxic constituents of the waste would
be fully soluble and geochemically mobile.
Waste
storage on-site
The three waste streams containing
wastes, which should be classified as “long-living low radioactive and
hazardous wastes,” will be stored on-site in dedicated facilities, called
“Residue Storage Facilities (RSF).
The poor design of the liner system
of the RSF will include the use of a single barrier, instead of independent
multiple barriers. This will not guarantee safe, leak-proof storage of
radioactive and hazardous waste.
In
fact, the preliminary Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has made an
astounding finding and identified such a danger: “The potential leaching of trace metals, including radioactive
lanthanide metals, from the residues may result in contamination of the
underlying soil and groundwater resources.”
Incredibly,
the preliminary EIA evaluates the technical measures to prevent leakage as
adequate and recommends the “monitoring of groundwater in the vicinity of the
RSF…on a regular basis.” But monitoring groundwater will not prevent leakages.
The design of the RSF facilities is
therefore technically inappropriate because it does not prevent leakage. It
will allow radioactive and toxic wastes to leak and enter the natural layers of
earth under the Lynas facility and reach the groundwater table. It will
therefore be impossible for the Lynas plant to contain such radioactive
contamination of the environment.
Emissions
of radon gas
Radiation risks from the emission of
radon gas from the Lynas plant are small. But it is unscientific and misleading
to dismiss them by equating them with natural background radiation levels,
because the risk from background radiation is not zero. It should be emphasised
that there is no safe threshold for radiation. All radiation is harmful to
health.
Emissions
of sulphuric acid and dust
Waste gas from the heating of the ore
with concentrated sulphuric acid is treated to remove dust and other
substances, but waste gas from the roasting of rare earth oxalate is not
filtered for dust and is discharged directly into the atmosphere.
Analysing and comparing these
emissions, the report concludes:
§ that no reasons are given for not providing a
comprehensive system to treat all waste gas and remove dust;
§ that Malaysia’s environmental regulation of air
quality is inappropriately lacking in current scientific knowledge and
technical advances in the reduction of emissions;
§ that Lynas’ treatment systems for abating acids,
acidic gases and dust do not conform to the best technology available. As a
result, sulphuric acid and dust emissions are too high by at least a factor of
two.
In other words, Lynas is not keeping
up with scientific advances in waste management.
Discharge
of waste through water pathways
Lynas uses large volumes of clean
water in the cracking stage of the process, at the end of which the polluted
water is channelled through an earthen channel over three kilometres into the
BalokRiver and eventually into the South China Sea.
The report concludes:
§ that, as Lynas does not provide information on the
by-product content of the ore concentrate in its Preliminary Environmental
Impact Study, complete calculations cannot be made for other toxic constituents
of the ore;
§ that Lynas also does not provide full information
or evaluations on the specific constituents of the waste-water, including their
identities, concentrations and environmental impacts, as would be
normally required in any Preliminary Environmental Impact Study.
§ that it is unacceptable that the discharge of waste
water containing toxic constituents in an open earth channel is accessible to
humans and animals. Such toxic waste water should be discharged through a
pipeline that will prevent seepage into groundwater and unintended use of the
water.
The report therefore throws into
doubt the validity of the Preliminary Environmental Impact Study.
The
control of hazards in the production process
Any industrial facility, which makes
use of and stores large amounts of concentrated acids, carries the potential
risk that storage tanks will leak. Therefore, preventive measures, rapid
detection of leaks, and ability to limit environmental damage should receive
priority.
However, the report confirmed:
§ that the assessment of specific environmental
hazards to soil and groundwater, following tank leakages and sulphuric acid
vapour release, was inadequate.
Wastes
from the production process
From its detailed analysis of waste
management by the Lynas plant, the report concluded:
§ that the design of Residual Storage Facilities is
defective, with regard to preventing leakage of radioactive and toxic
constituents into the near groundwater, even under normal operating conditions.
As the layers under the plant are not qualified as barriers and do not
guarantee the enclosure of those constituents, seepage is not substantially
reduced or delayed. It is an open question whether such an inappropriate design
is compatible with the minimal requirements laid down in Malaysia for the
control of radioactive waste and its storage.
§ that the Residual Storage Facilities for waste from
the Water Leach Purification process, containing the highest radionuclide
content, has several defects, such as:
–
a limited capacity for storage
–
inadequate design for safeguarding against heavy rain and for protecting
workers from exposure to radioactive waste
–
the lack of a design to cope with enhanced enrichment of radium and the absence
of any procedure for dealing with such wastes. Clearly, the increased risks to
workers has not been recognised and planned for.
§ that the Residual Storage Facilities should not be
designated as a permanent disposal facility, because of significant
deficiencies in the choice of a suitable site, the design of the facility, and
the long term isolation of the facilities. Of particular importance is
that the base layers of the facility are insufficient and cannot now be
upgraded to meet the more stringent requirements of a permanent radioactive
waste disposal site.
§ that the option of releasing Water Leach
Purification wastes to the public domain, either in their original form or in a
mixture with other diluting substances, such as concrete or fixing agents,
would expose workers and the public to excessive radiation from direct gamma
rays. This option will pose an unacceptable risk to the general public and
should be banned and ruled out completely.
§ A safe and acceptable way to establish a permanent
disposal facility for the waste must remain a prerequisite for the management
of these wastes. This will include a comprehensive commitment to safety,
a sound site selection, the broad consent of the affected public, and a
carefully scrutinised licence for construction.
It is one year since the Atomic
Energy Licensing Board issued a Temporary Operating Licence and yet a site for
a permanent disposal facility has yet to be identified. It is beyond
argument that no waste generation should be allowed, until all necessary
measures have been undertaken to build such a facility, compatible with the
required safety standards.
In addition, the Malaysian
government’s approach and attitude towards ensuring adequate funds for
decommissioning, clean-up and waste disposal leaves much to be desired. This is
yet another good reason to oppose the Lynas plant and protect future
generations from the hazards of toxic, radioactive industrial waste. It is also
a good reason to replace the current pro-business government, which is deaf to
the cries of the public and incapable of responding to public concerns about
health and environmental safety.
It gives me great pleasure to launch
the release of this important report.
The
Consumers' Association of Penang (CAP) and Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) are very
concerned with the Pahang State Government's decision to go ahead with the
proposed rare earth plant in Gebeng despite the fact that this refinery is a
disaster waiting to happen.
In 2007, SAM was invited by
the Terengganu Government to give a briefing on the dangers of rare earth and
SAM’s experience dealing with the exposure of radioactive waste in Bukit Merah,
Perak. Following this, the project was rejected by the Terengganu Government.
In
the last 3 years, CAP and SAM have objected vehemently to the proposed rare
earth plant due to the potential public health and environmental impacts of
radioactive and hazardous waste that would be generated.
There has been no full
public disclosure of this proposed project. A detailed environmental impact
assessment was not required due to a loophole in our law. Thus there was no
avenue for the public to review the proposed mitigation measures and potential
risks, and raise their objections.
The company has said that
there will be low level exposure to radiation. This is alarming as there is no
safe level or threshold of ionizing radiation exposure. Long-term, low-level
(chronic) exposure to radiation is harmful because living tissue in the human
body can be damaged by ionizing radiation.
The
exposure to radioactive waste can contribute to increased incidence of
childhood leukaemia, cancer, miscarriages, impaired immune systems with an
abnormal low white blood cell counts, high lead levels among children which
would lead to lead poisoning.
Children
are much more vulnerable to the harmful effects of radiation disasters than the
general population because their bodies absorb and metabolize substances
differently, and because they are more likely to develop certain cancers from
such an exposure. There is also a high possibility that children born to parents
that have been exposed to radiation could be affected by those exposures too.
The other issue of concern
is that there no known way to safely dispose the waste which is generated from
this refinery.
Given all these risks, is
the Government prepared to sacrifice lives for the sake of profits?
Taking into account the
seriousness of the risks involved in running such a plant, we strongly urge the
Government to call off this project immediately.
Letter
to editor, 11 March 2011
Australia’s
rare earth mining and waste in Malaysia
By Dario Mujkic.
It’s more than likely that you’re reading this on a smartphone or
tablet. And you’re probably not the only one: Australians are some of the
biggest users of these devices in the world. What we rarely consider however is
how this technology affects the lives and communities of those who are caught
up in its production.
The manufacture of the screen on your phone or tablet probably involved
the use of minerals called rare earth elements. These minerals are not all that
rare and can be found in many deposits around the world, including in
Australia. But refining and processing them so that they can be used in later
production processes creates toxic and radioactive materials, exposure to which
can be hazardous to human health. Residents of the Malaysian town of Bukit
Merah, Penang, blame the radioactive waste from a former rare earth refinery
for a significant increase in cases of leukaemia and birth defects in their
community.
Since 2011, an Australian company called Lynas Corporation Ltd (Lynas)
has been mining rare earth elements in Mount Weld, Western Australia, about
three hundred kilometres north of Kalgoorlie. According to Lynas,
this is the richest known deposit of rare earth in the world. But the
processing of the rare earth mined in Mount Weld takes place elsewhere – again
in Malaysia, this time in Gebeng, Pahang, where Lynas has been operating a
processing plant since September 2012.
Concerns about pollution and toxic waste from the Gebeng plant have led
to a community campaign to close the facility. According
to Lynas, waste from the plant is stored safely and the company has
allowed parties interested in the site’s environmental impact to visit the
plant, suggesting Lynas has nothing to hide. But those campaigning against the
facility – who Lynas accuses of misinformation – say that environmental
approval processes usually required by the Malaysian government were not
required of Lynas, despite what they say is the high risk of bad health and
environmental outcomes.
The concerns of protesters are understandable if one considers the
environmental impact of the former Asian Rare Earth (ARE) plant in Bukit Merah,
which operated from 1982 to 1994. According to ecological economist Dr
Yoshihiko Wada, from DoshishaUniversity in Kyoto, Japan, the ARE plant has
caused “severe radioactive contamination” in and around Bukit Merah.
Dr Wada states that radioactive waste from the ARE refinery was first
dumped by the company before inadequate storage led to leakage into local
rivers and lakes. As a result, nearby land, air and water was severely
contaminated by hazardous and dangerous radioactive materials, including
Thorium 232, which has a half-life of more than 14 billion years. It can cause
cancers in cases of overexposure. At the time, the levels of radioactivity near
the site were measured to be from fifty times to more than seven hundred times
higher than what is considered normal.
There is now fear in the community that history could repeat itself. The
storage facilities for radioactive materials at the Lynas plant were criticised
early last year as poor and insufficient by German research
institute Oeko-Institut. Lynas denies that waste from the plant is not being
stored properly and safely, but whether or not the company has remedied the
specific problems identified by the institute is unclear.
Two environmental groups involved in the community campaign to close the
Lynas plant, Save Malaysia Stop Lynas and Himpunan Hijau, have led dozens of protests in
Malaysia and Australia as part of what they say is “the biggest environmental
movement in Malaysia”. According to the groups, more than 1.2 million Malaysians
have signed a petition demanding the closure of the plant, and in October last
year, protesters blockaded a Malaysian port in order to prevent the delivery of
rare earth materials to the Gebeng plant.
SMSL has given Lynas until June 29 this year to close its operations in
Gebeng and is planning a national day of protest in Malaysia on this day.
KUALA LUMPUR: A team of scientists has warned
that the damage to the environment from the indiscriminate and poorly regulated
mining of bauxite may be so severe that the ecosystem may never recover. The
adverse health effects on the Kuantan public could be devastating, and could
last for generations. The group of 17 professionals covering a diverse array of
environmental disciplines have called for the Pahang government to issue an
immediate stop work order on bauxite mining in the district. This marked the
first time that a group of independent scientists had arrived at a consensus
and issued a dire and comprehensive warning of the consequences of the unrestrained
mining of bauxite in the state. Calling itself Responsible Citizens of Malaysia
and Conscientious Professionals and Scientists, the group cautioned that
Kuantan would suffer long-term health and environmental consequences if the
authorities ignored the seven conditions it said must be imposed on every
bauxite mine and mining operator. It stressed that a moratorium on all the
activities must be enforced with immediate effect, saying that this was vital
to mitigate the damage. Among the recommendations that came with the report on
the grave situation in Kuantan was the requirement for miners to produce an
Erosion Sediment Control Plan (ESCP), which must be a part of an Environmental
Monitoring Plan that is closely and diligently monitored. The miners, they
said, must also come up with a rehabilitation plan once the mining ceases. It
was reported that the mining of bauxite would go on at least until next year.
Their comprehensive, 14-page report on the unfolding disaster stemming from
poorly regulated open cast mining of bauxite, which was made exclusively
available to the New Sunday Times, also touched extensively on how
transportation of the resource not only posed a serious public health threat,
but is also causing irreversible environmental damage. They reported that the
export of bauxite to China had more than quadrupled, from 208,770 tonnes in
2013 to 963,000 tonnes in 2014. Last year, it hit a staggering 20 million
tonnes. In January of last year, the amount of ore exported was just 343,000
tonnes. By September, the number had risen to an astounding 3.7 million tonnes.
All at the expense of a suffering Kuantan public, forced to choke on the red
dust. The NST had, in early August, collected water, marine life and dust
samples in Kuantan for independent laboratory analyses. The results were
startling. At least two other agencies which followed up on the NST’s series of
reports on the problem came up with equally worrying findings. The authorities,
which were supposed to keep the problem in check, have so far not yielded any
positive results. Their only success to date is reflected in the number of
summonses issued to bauxite lorry drivers, although the issuing authority
admitted that these tickets were largely ignored. A large portion of the blame
had been dumped on illegal miners. The NST was made to understand that the
group of scientists, whose members had stationed themselves in Kuantan for a
few weeks to study the problem which had besieged the city for more than a
year, was expected to forward their report to the state government soon. The
report comes with a recommended action plan. “It is our professional duty and
responsibility to objectively and scientifically assess the environmental and
human conditions related to this bauxite mining issue and present our
recommendations for corrective and remedial measures,” the experts said. The
scientists said their discovery that ore processing outside of the mineral
tenement area, including bauxite-washing that was being done close to water
sources, was a cause for grave concern. The concern, they said, was real as
rivers were being barricaded and dammed up to facilitate washing of the ore to
concentrate its bauxite content. They added that the stability of these
structures, if compromised, could result in serious repercussions to the
downstream areas when mud and sediment come gushing down. “This very real risk
is amplified during the rainy season as the volume of water increases.” This,
they said, was in addition to the issue of several water intake points being
downstream of many bauxite mines. They underscored the risk of heavy metals,
including arsenic, mercury and aluminium, as well as other pollutants, entering
the rivers during rain. The effects on aquatic life in Pahang’s rivers,
including the more than 400 species of freshwater fishes, five species of
terrapins and numerous species of invertebrates and aquatic plants, can only be
guessed. “While the present situation is disturbing enough, its longer term
persistence would mean that there would be no scope for the affected waterways
to return to their original state. The changes would be so extreme that the
fundamental habitat qualities that support our local biodiversity would be lost
and we would be left with a degraded ecosystem,” they cautioned. The group also
revealed that they had, on Dec 26 and 27, monitored the 24-hour PM10 levels in
Bukit Goh, Beserah (just outside residents’ homes), and the Gebeng Industrial
Estate, adjacent to Kuantan Port. The result: the 24-hour PM10 levels recorded
outside the houses were at 222.13 g/m3 (Bukit Goh) and 164.05 g/m3 (Beserah).
The sampling carried out in Gebeng showed a reading of 276.79μg/m3. All three
exceeded the standard levels underlined under the 24-hour Malaysian Ambient Air
Quality Standard for PM10, which is 150 μg/m3. Samples at the house in Beserah,
located close to a bauxite mine and along a bauxite transport route, were taken
on a day when the transportation of bauxite had ceased. PM10 dust can easily
penetrate the human lower respiratory tract and cause or trigger respiratory
problems like asthma, lower respiratory tract infections, pneumonia, chronic
bronchitis and emphysema. Depending on the chemical content of the PM10 dust,
they may also experience other health problems. The scientists highlighted the
NST’s August reports on the high levels of arsenic in fish caught in Sungai
Pengorak. The arsenic content of three fish samples ranged from 70.8 to
104.5g/kg, more than a staggering 70,000 times the permissible limit for
arsenic in fish and fishery products of 1mg/kg, under the Malaysian Food
Regulation 1985. “We should be reminded that the lack of evidence of
destruction and harm to the environment and humans should not be used as an
excuse not to act or to delay action. “When there is potential harm to the
environment or humans, we should be proactive and not reactive in our approach.
“This approach of harm avoidance is based on the Precautionary Principle, which
states that when human activities may lead to morally unacceptable harm that is
scientifically plausible but uncertain, actions shall be taken to avoid or
diminish that harm.” They said the authorities should not dismiss such reports
without investigating for themselves. “A recent news report in the NST (Dec 29)
showed a disturbing photo of a young man collecting clams (remis) from the
bauxite-contaminated Sungai Pengorak and two children playing in the
bauxite-contaminated sea waters off Batu Hitam beach. “If heavy metals are
present in the river water as we strongly suspect, they will be easily
concentrated in the clams, which are bivalves and filter feeders. “Wading and
swimming in the contaminated waters are also dangerous as heavy metals in the
water can penetrate human skin, eyes and mucous linings. Swimmers will also
ingest water,” they warned. While the state authorities have played down the
risks posed by bauxite mining, the state Fisheries Department had, on Dec 31,
warned the public against consuming seafood obtained from bauxite-contaminated
waters off Pahang. Its director, Adnan Hussain Adnan, also advised against
fishing, which he said was not suitable in these areas due to the high level of
turbidity. It is understood that the group will also forward their report to
Putrajaya. “It is absolutely imperative that the state government address the
issues by controlling every single mining operation at the source. Only then
can they be made sustainable in the long run. “A populated area cannot be
transformed into a huge mining area without serious consequences to the
population of 400,000. “The state government cannot abdicate its responsibility
to look after the well-being and health of these people. “Justifying extensive
mining in a well-populated area simply because they give income to a small
group of people is totally wrong and unheard of in this day and age. “In
developed countries, this will undoubtedly result in civil suits,” they said.
Abstract
Industrial activities such as the tin tailings and rare earth processing
contribute to radiological risk to human health and environment. Those
activities can accumulate the naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM)
with significant concentration in the environment. The aims of this study was
to determine the activities concentration of Thorium-232 (232Th), Uranium-238
(238U) and Potassium-40 (40K) in soil samples around the Gebeng Industrial
Estate, Pahang and in samples of ilmenite and monazite from three tin tailings
processing plants in Perak using gamma ray spectrometry. The terrestrial gamma
dose rate, the annual dose and cancer risk were also determined. The activities
concentration of 232Th, 238U and 40K in the Gebeng soil samples were found in
the range of 14.3-102.4, 23.8-81.3 and 73.3-451 Bq kg-1, respectively. While
the activities concentration of 232Th, 238U and 40K for ilmenite and monazite
samples were in the range of 259-166500, 194-28750 and 26.4-11991 Bq kg-1,
respectively. The range terrestrial gamma dose rate at the Gebeng Industrial
Estate was 22-108 nGy h-1 and the tin tailings processing plants was 390-6650
nGy h-1. Whereas the annual dose at the Gebeng Industrial Estate and tin
tailings processing plants were 0.02-0.15 and 0.47-68 mSv y-1, respectively.
The study showed that the cancer risk in the Gebeng industrial area were 4
peoples per million and 3702 peoples per million in the tin tailings processing
plants. The activity concentration of soil from industrial area reported by UNSCEAR
2000 was in range of the Malaysia soil background. The activity concentration,
the terrestrial gamma dose rate, the annual dose and the cancer risk were lower
in the industrial area compared to tin tailings processing plants due to the
high activity among the tin tailings processing area due to the high content of
thorium in monazite. This study is recommended to monitor the environmental
dose continuously in order to ensure the sustainability of human and
environment.to ensure the sustainability of human and environment.
