Theresa Rodriguez-Moodie | The abuse of Rio Cobre

The strong, nauseating smell of caustic soda, white froth, brown water, and countless dead fish in the Rio Cobre are tell-tale signs of pollution from the West Indies Alumina Company’s (WINDALCO) Effluent Holding Pond (EHP) located in Ewarton, St Catherine.

On July 30, the river’s elevated pH level, contaminated the water, killed fish and other organisms, destroyed community livelihoods, and compromised the fresh water supply for an estimated 150,000 Jamaicans in St Catherine and St Andrew. Though water supply has been restored to the affected areas, fishers are still without their primary source of income, which ranges from $60,000 to $85,000 monthly. Their catch primarily consists of perch, crayfish, shrimp, mullet, and dog teeth fish.

On August 5, the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) advised the public of their regulatory response: WINDALCO would be served a Notice of Intention to suspend its environmental permit and environmental licence. The full amount (US$771,558.69) of the Environmental Performance Bond would be drawn down, and prosecution of the Company for the pollution incident would be pursued. At the time of writing, there has been no update. WINDALCO continues to operate, and the fishers have not been compensated for their losses.

WHAT IS AN EFFLUENT HOLDING POND?

WINDALCO, operating since 1959 and now owned by UC Rusal, is one of four bauxite alumina plants in Jamaica. Until approximately 1990-’91, the waste from the bauxite-alumina process, which is highly alkaline and toxic, was pumped into a deep, partially lined limestone depression at Mount Rosser, known by many as the ‘red mud lake’. Then in 1985, the construction of the Charlemont Mud Stacking and Drying Facility and the EHP began. The EHP, with a capacity of 810,000 m3 and lined with clay, was designed to capture the effluent for later recycling in the refinery’s process.

An initial environmental impact assessment was not done since this was only potentially required after the Natural Resources Conservation Authority Act was passed in 1991.

DAT A NO SPILL. DAT A DASH WEY!

Following the completion of the dry-stacking facility, residents recall that the first spill took place in the late 1980s. There have been multiple spills since. In August, one resident exclaimed in disgust, “Dat a no spill. Dat a dash wey!” meaning that a spill typically suggests an accident, and this was no accident.

In fact, the EHP is equipped with a Controlled Discharge Facility, where special permission may be granted to discharge diluted effluent from the EHP into nearby waterways and then into the river. WINDALCO’s Standard Practice Instructions for the Operation of Charlemont Holding Pond Control Discharge Facility, accessed through an ATI request, states that under heavy rainfall conditions, which allow for dilution of the effluent, they will seek approval prior to discharging into the environment from the Water Resources Authority (who will notify the National Irrigation Commission), the National Water Commission, and the Jamaica Bauxite Institute (JBI), which has carried out environmental monitoring under a delegation agreement from the NRCA since the mid-1990s.

Despite this arrangement regarding the discharge of diluted effluent, the NEPA maintains that WINDALCO is not allowed to release this toxic liquid into the environment as no such licence has been issued.

HAS ADEQUATE ACTION BEEN TAKEN?

Since 2011, according to documents received through an ATI request, there have reportedly been at least 10 such discharges that have affected the Rio Cobre. Since 2010, WINDALCO has received at least 15 warning, enforcement, and breach notices for such events as well as for dust emissions or failure to comply with other environmental permit conditions. In 2013, they received one other Notice of Intention to suspend their environmental permit. WINDALCO has been allowed to continue to operate despite these many breaches. One example is, according to a Spill Report prepared by the WRA, and supplied to JET, for four years, WINDALCO’s mist blowers, used to increase evaporation in the EHP, did not work. Between 2018 and 2021, the company received three additional enforcement notices. They are currently before the courts for the 2019 and 2021 discharges, yet they remain in operation.

In 2019, the NEPA finally requested that WINDALCO expand its EHP. An environmental permit was issued in September 2020 for a new holding pond that would add another ~660,000 m3. Ground was broken in January 2022 with completion set for December 2022. The then minister of transportation and works announced that contamination caused by overflow of the EHP would never occur again ( The Gleaner, January 7, 2022). According to the environmental permit, the design criterion is for a 50-year return period flood of any duration. Whether or not this is adequate considering climate-induced changes in our rainfall patterns remains to be seen.

WAS BEST PRACTICE CONSIDERED?

It would be useful to know if the NEPA or the JBI reviewed and considered international best practices to determine if expanding the holding pond was the best possible action to reduce the toxic discharges into the Rio Cobre. According to the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide, WINDALCO’s bauxite waste management and water-management systems in Jamaica are outdated and inconsistent with international best practice for the management of bauxite processing residue. They proposed that the European Union is the best source of standards for bauxite-to-alumina refineries and red-mud disposal. This involves the use of the ‘Best Available Technology’ standard. All mining operations in the EU have to comply with this standard, including those owned by UC Rusal.

The BAT standard is intended to reduce the quantities of waste sent for disposal and to improve the disposal of bauxite residues from alumina production. It can involve two techniques. The first, high-pressure filtration, involves the compression of the final slurry to produce a compact filter cake with a moisture content of 25-32 per cent. The second, bauxite residue farming, is a process that lowers the moisture level and pH to less than 11.5 and can work on wet and dry bauxite residue. If either of these systems were implemented at the Ewarton works, then an effluent holding pond, downhill of the red mud dry stacks, would be unnecessary.

FAILURE OF REGULATORY PROCESS

It is evident that successive administrations have failed to apply adequate regulatory control to WINDALCO. Greater action could and should have been taken. For years, for example, there have been countless calls for increased fines under the NRCA Act and the Wild Life Protection Act, but despite promises, these remain at levels that are too low to act as a deterrent. The Company could have also been required to cease operations until they were fully in compliance with the conditions of their environmental permit. Alternatively, WINDALCO could have been required to employ the use of BAT, which is similarly done by other entities owned by UC Rusal located in the EU. This slow action has resulted in the long-standing pollution to one of Jamaica’s major rivers and the treatment of those who live nearby and depend on the river with scant regard.

Theresa Rodriguez-Moodie, PhD, is an environmental scientist and the CEO of the Jamaica Environment Trust. Send feedback to jamaicaenvironmenttrust@gmail.com.