Enviro team treating cyanide leak returns to Crawle today

Christopher Serju, Gleaner Writer

A team from CL Environmental Company, the consultants handing the neutralisation of cyanide at the Ausjam gold-mining facility in Crawle, Clarendon, will return to the site today to complete that process.

This was deemed necessary after samples of the treated solution were sent to laboratories in the United States, where it was determined that more needed to be done to bring the final product in line with the internationally accepted safety standards for the discharge of trade effluent. These results were received last week Monday and circulated to various State agencies and a decision taken on the way forward.

However, Carlton Campbell, managing director of CL Environment Company, downplayed the significance of the work to be done.

"We completed the treatment, got back some result and we need to treat it some more, for just another day, which we will be doing tomorrow," he told The Gleaner yesterday.

"It has been reduced to a more or less comfortable level; we are trying to reach a certain standard but it's a little tricky because of some sediment in the bottom of the tank," he admitted.

Costs could rise

Meanwhile, Peter Knight, chief executive officer of the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), advised that Paul Sailah, who operated the gold mine, has challenged the amount he was asked to pay for the rehabilitation/remediation process. While not saying how much the final figure was likely to be, Knight indicated that the costs could rise. This, after the agency was forced to shelve plans to relocate the estimated seven tonnes of cyanide on site to the Petrojam facility in Kingston. Since then, NEPA has had to implement additional measures to secure the mine site.

"Basically, we have the situation under control," Knight told The Gleaner.

He said NEPA was treating as a downpayment, money paid by Sailah towards the rehabilitation/remediation costs.

Meanwhile, NEPA yesterday announced that it had taken legal action against West Indies Alumina Company (Windalco) for the unauthorised release of improperly treated trade effluent on July 29 which resulted in a fish kill in the Rio Cobre, St Catherine. The matter is scheduled for mention in the Spanish Town Resident Magistrate's Court next Tuesday.

The agency's decision was informed by water and fish samples taken from the river by NEPA enforcement officers on July 30.

Court summonses were issued to Windalco under Section 12 of the Natural Resources Conservation Authority Act for the unlicensed release of untreated trade effluent, and under Section 11 of the Wild Life Protection Act for the release of a noxious substance into the environment.

christopher.serju@gleanerjm.com