Johannesburg is home to one of the world’s most productive gold reef. However, this golden legacy has resulted in radioactivity from uranium hauled up in the mining process.
Rivers west of the city and even tap water has been contaminated by high levels of uranium. People in Johannesburg live among 600,000 metric tons of uranium buried in waste rock. Uranium can also be found below ground where water has filled abandoned mines and leaks into the environment. There are nearly 400,000 people in the area who are subjected to such high levels of uranium and yet the government has not even bothered to consider the health impact.
There is a general disagreement between health advocates and government regulators over the public-health threat this poses. While government ministers believe that the radiation levels recorded in and around Johannesburg are a cause for concern but isn’t that dangerous, health agencies believe that exposure to even low levels of radiation if prolonged can cause cancer.
The increasing amount of untreated waste material containing uranium and the decline in gold price has left a number of abandoned mine sites and thousands out of work. Often mine operators aren’t responsible for environmental rehabilitation of the mine as they never undertook legal ownership of the operation.
With time abandoned mine sites lose their shape as their toxic material leaks into the surrounding area. When waste dumps are forsaken it leads to major erosion and slides of toxic material into wetlands. It is mandatory for companies to set aside funds for environmental mitigation but these are often totally insufficient.
In 2012 a report stated that South Africa will have to spend nearly $2.7 billion on cleaning up its 6,000 abandoned mines. 40 per cent of the country’s functioning mines don’t have access to sufficient funds for rehabilitation.
Prolonged exposure to radiation can lead to cancer and changes to DNA- mutations that can affect one’s offspring as well. Increased ingestion of uranium can ultimately lead to increased cancer risk and liver damage. Every ton of ore mined produces 3 to 15 grams of gold, and most rock removed from the earth is waste material that contains toxic chemicals like uranium, mercury, radon, arsenic and sulphuric acid.
Another major issue is that the radioactive metal often dissolves in rainwater and runs into rivers or other water sources. It can also be spilled by companies that re-mine dumps for the metal.
The government has placed a prohibition of drinking, irrigating or washing in water taken directly from rivers. However, people residing in certain areas have no choice but to use the polluted water.
Elevated levels of uranium found in water sources have become a major cause of concern for health organizations. Residents are being exposed to dangerous water quality. The only way to protect public-health is by prohibiting people to drink water directly from contaminated rivers, dams or seasonal streams.
The government approach to eliminating uranium from mine dumps is to allow companies to re-mine them for gold, thereby removing toxic wastes as they proceed. The companies need to ensure that they mine cleanly or else they will only worsen the situation.
However, scientists believe that the government and the companies aren’t doing enough. Lack of information about how many mines will be closed in the future and the health implications of the same are worrying experts.
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