The U.S. embassy in Zambia has ordered all U.S. government personnel to avoid the area around the Chinese-owned mine near the northern city of Kitwe because “hazardous and carcinogenic substances” released during an accident six months ago may have polluted the atmosphere.
The embassy’s August 6 health alert cited “threats posed from the widespread contamination of water and soil by toxic heavy metals stemming from the Sino Metals Leach Mine dam spill.”
The toxic spill occurred on February 18 at one of many copper mines in Zambia owned by Chinese companies. These Chinese mines have frequently been cited for poor safety and environmental standards plus abusive labor practices, but the Zambian government takes little action against them.
Critics say the government is reluctant to penalize Chinese mine operators because Zambia is over $4 billion in debt to Chinese banks. Sino Metals Leach Zambia is a division of a Chinese state-owned enterprise called the China Nonferrous Metal Mining Group.
The February incident involved the collapse of a dam holding extremely toxic “tailings” from the copper mining operation. Some 50 million liters of toxic slurry poured into a stream that led to the Kafue River, a major source of water for plants, fish, animals, and humans in the area. Environmentalists called it a “disaster of catastrophic consequences” and feared the toxins would effectively destroy the Kafue River.
The U.S. Embassy instructed American government personnel to avoid the towns of Chambishi and Kitwe, along with the Mwambashi River area, and the confluence between the Mwambashi and Kafue rivers.
Kitwe is one of the largest cities in Zambia, with a population of over 700,000. The embassy health alert instructed U.S. personnel to avoid any travel to Kitwe that “renders them dependent on drinking, or eating food cooked with municipally available water.”
“Beyond contaminated water and soil, contaminants from the spilled mine’s tailings may also become airborne, posing a health threat if inhaled,” the embassy advised.
The Zambian government pushed back against the U.S. Embassy health alert, scrambling to absolve the Chinese mine of causing any lasting damage to the local environment.
Zambian government spokesman Cornelius Mweetwa insisted on Thursday that “laboratory results show that PH levels have returned to normal” in the area around the copper mine and that the water is safe to drink.
“There is, therefore, absolutely no need to press the ‘panic button’ today to alarm the nation and the international community,” Mweetwa said.
“The immediate danger to human, animal, and plant life has been averted as we speak today. All serious implications on public health, water safety, agriculture, and the environment have been brought under control,” he said.
Mweetwa added that Sino Metals Leach Zambia was fined about $65,000 for the toxic tailing spill, and has agreed to pay another $600,000 in compensation to farmers in the affected region.
Other Zambian ministers claimed the water in the disaster area has been tested constantly and meets World Health Organization safety standards. Opposition party leader Peter Sinkamba wondered why it took the U.S. Embassy so long to declare its health alert while remaining silent about reports of contamination linked to Western mining companies in Zambia.
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