PARLIAMENTARY PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE PRESENTATION WATER QUALITY AND POLLUTION

"No degree of prosperity could justify the accumulation of large amounts of highly toxic substances which nobody knows how to make "safe" and which remain an incalculable danger to the whole of creation for historical or even geological ages.

To do such a thing is a transgression against life itself, a transgression infinitely more serious than any crime ever perpetrated by man. The idea that a civilisation could sustain itself on the basis of such a transgression is an ethical, spiritual, and metaphysical monstrosity. It means conducting the economic affairs of man as if people really did not matter at all."

--E.F. Schumacher GOLD‐MINING AREAS OF THE WONDERFONTEINSPRUIT CATCHMENT THE WONDERFONTEINSPRUIT CATCHMENT THE WONDERFONTEINSPRUIT CATCHMENT

• 120 Years of Gold Mining Activity • Non‐Internalisation of negative externalities • Uranium is identified as the principal contaminant of concern • Uranium is emitted by a single industry namely the gold mining industry • Uranium is radioactive and chemically toxic • Extremely long half‐life of uranium U238 • Radioactive daughter products OFFICIAL REPORTS

•An Assessment of Sources, Pathways, Mechanisms and Risks of Current and Potential Future Pollution of Water and Sediments in Gold‐Mining Areas of the Wonderfonteinspruit Catchment ‐ Report to the WATER RESEARCH COMMISSION, Compiled by Henk Coetzee, Council for Geosience ‐ WRC Report No 1214/1/06 ; ISBN No 1‐77005‐419‐7 ‐ MARCH 2006

•Contamination of wetlands by Witwatersrand gold mines –processes and the economic potential of gold in wetlands ‐ Henk Coetzee, Jaco Venter & Gabriel Ntsume ‐ Council for Geoscience Report No. 2005‐0106

•A comprehensive radiological risk assessment performed by German physicists on behalf the National Nuclear Regulator, the radiological risks to the public was published in the Report, entitled: Radiological Impacts of the Mining Activities to the Public in the Wonderfonteinspruit Catchment Area. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

1. Elevated levels of radioactivity 2. Radiological impacts: Plants 3. Radiological impacts: Soil 4. Water Pollution 5. Pollution of shallow and deep groundwater, surface water such as dams, lakes and streams 6. Health Impacts 7. Heavy Metal Contamination 8. Toxic and Radioactive Dust Fallout 9. Acid Mine Drainage 10. Animal Mortality HEAVY METAL CONTAMINATION

•"The mean values for the Wonderfonteinspruit samples were found to exceed not only natural background concentrations, but also levels of regulatory concern for cobalt, zinc, arsenic, cadmium and uranium, with uranium and cadmium exhibiting the highest risk coefficients. COLOUR CODING SYSTEM USED FOR TIER 1 RISK ASSESSMENT Risk quotient Colour Explanation

<0.5 Quotients in this range are unlikely to represent any environmental risk.

0.5-2 Quotients in this range may represent a risk, allowing for analytical and other uncertainties.

>2 Quotients in this range will represent an environmental risk Cobalt Concentration Uranium Concentration Nickel Concentration Arsenic Concentration Copper Concentration WATER POLLUTION

•Tailings Dams contain 100 000 tons of U

•50 Tons of U discharged annually

•Seepage/Percolation: 24 tons U (1 000 to 1 million higher than the background U concentrations)

•Point Discharges: 12 tons of U

•Stormwater: 10 tons of U

•Sinkholes: Secondary Sources of U contamination RADIOLOGICAL RISKS

The measured uranium content of many of the fluvial sediments in the Wonderfonteinspruit, including those off mine properties and therefore outside the boundaries of licensed sites, exceeds the exclusion limit for regulation by the National Nuclear Regulator.

For approximately 50% of the 47 sampling sites, the calculated incremental doses of the respective critical group are above 1 mSv per annum up to 100 mSv pa (548 mSv pa Blyvooruitzicht Mine/Bridge )

The radioactive contamination of surface water bodies in the Wonderfonteinspruit catchment area caused by the long‐lasting mine water discharges and diffuse emissions of seepage and runoff from slimes dams poses radiological risks to the public resulting from the usage of polluted environmental media;

The pathway sediment→SPM →cattle→milk/meat→person (“SeCa”) can cause radioactive contamination of livestock products (milk, meat) resulting in effective doses of the public in some orders of magnitude above those resulting via the pathway “WaCa. ELEVATED LEVELS OF RADIOACTIVITY Andries Coetzee’s Dam 900mg/kg U ELEVATED LEVELS OF RADIOACTIVITY

•Andries Coetzee Dam: 900mg/kg U •Upper Wonderfonteinspruit: 1 100 mg/kg U •Klerkskraal Dam: 1 mg/kg U

16mg/kg uranium is equivalent to an activity concentration of 0,2Bq/g, the limit for regulatory control set by the NNR.

•Tudor Dam: 10 000 – 100 000 Bq/kg •Sluice: 1 000 –10 000 Bq/kg •Andries Coetzee Dam: 1 000 –10 000 Bq/kg •Attenuation Dam: 100 –1 000 Bq/kg •Donaldson Dam: 100 –1 000 Bq/kg

Regulatory Limit: 500 Bq/kg Andries Coetzee’s Dam 900mg/kg U At present the U and other heavy metals, such as cadmium, copper, zinc, arsenic and cobalt are adsorbed in the sediment. Plausible environmental conditions such:

•Acid mine drainage

•Acid rain

•Drying out of the sediment and influx of water

•Dredging operations

•Tailings spillages

•Turbulence caused by cattle drinking the water or children playing in the water can cause the mobilization or transport of uranium in the Wonderfonteinspruit. DECANT

In 2002 in the ‐ area water has started to decant from a number of shafts into the Tweelopiespruit and the Wonderfonteinspruit. The water has a pH of 2.2 (the normal pH is 7.3).

The combination of the pH and redox driven reactions resulted in a measured uranium concentration of 16mg/l of the Robinson Lake, and resulted in the NNR declaring the lake a radiation area.

The background U concentration in water is 0,0004mg/l.

In terms of the DWAF regulations for drinking water, the U concentration should not exceed 0.07mg/l and for irrigation, 0.01mg/l. Robinson Lake pH 2.6 U concentration of 16 mg/l; resulted in the NNR declaring the lake a radiation area HARMONY GOLD EIA DOCUMENT “A HYDROGEOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF ACID MINE DRAINAGE IMPACTS IN THE WEST RAND BASIN PROVINCE”

Decanting Volumes: Currently between 18 and 36 ML/per day

An unqualified volume still escapes downstream North and south (intercontinental water divide)

Environmental critical level not absolute decant management solution

Dolomitic Outlier not a low permeability barrier: faults and fractures ACID MINE DRAINAGE ACID MINE DRAINAGE

•Waste from gold mines constitutes the largest single source of waste and pollution in South Africa. •Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) is responsible for the most costly environmental and socio‐economic impacts. •Production of AMD may continue for many years after mines are closed and tailings dams decommissioned. •AMD is not only associated with surface and groundwater pollution, degradation of soil quality, for harming aquatic sediments and fauna, and for allowing heavy metals to seep into the environment. ACID MINE DRAINAGE •Long‐term exposure to AMD polluted drinking water may lead to increased rates of cancer, decreased cognitive function and appearance of skin lesions.

•Heavy metals in drinking water could compromise the neural development of the fetus which can result in mental retardation.

•If indeed the extent of “… problems related to mining waste may be rated as second only to global warming and stratospheric ozone depletion in terms of ecological risk” (EEB, 2000), then the Witwatersrand gold mining area of South Africa is at serious risk. HEALTH IMPACTS

•The chemical risk quotient associated with drinking river water is 6,67, and the radiological risk quotient is 2,22. Both the numbers are above 1,00, meaning that there is a risk of ill‐health effects by drinking water from contaminated streams in the Wonderfonteinspruit. " HEALTH IMPACTS

THE CANCER ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH AFRICA’S POSITION STATEMENT ON CANCER AND THE ENVIRONMENT

“…the light of compelling circumstantial evidence, in high impact peer‐reviewed research articles and the ominous growing burden of especially breast and prostate cancers, which are more and more being associated with some of these chemicals, CANSA has decided to take action and identify a number of man‐made chemicals present in the South African environment that are causing deep concern at present and formulate the following measures to reduce the potential cancer risks of these chemicals as outlined in Table 2 and Fig. 1 below.”

“7. Cadium & uranium Tailings, slime dams, run‐off water, soil, Wonderfonteinspruit Catchment area Risk reduction measures: Have hair and nail samples of people living on radioactively contaminated ground, as well as dirt‐track dust samples tested for cadmium, uranium levels and radioactivity.” ADVERSE HEALTH IMPACTS CONGENITAL MALFORMATIONS

TRACE MINERALS IN URINE OF YOUNG CHILD MICRO WONDERFONTEINSPRUIT CATCHMENT TRACE MINERALS Gm b h environmental & clinical laboratory Essential Macro- & TraceElements (mg/g creatinine) Acceptable Range Test Value Low Acceptable Range High Magnesium 12.00 -- 150.00 903.58 High ********************************** Copper 1.45 -- 60.00 186.43 High Manganese 0.00< 4.50 12.73 High ********************************* Molybdenum 9.70 -- 100.00 102.08 High ****************************** Selenium 12.00 -- 90.00 157.44 High ******************************* Arsenic 0.00< 15.00 23.11 High ******************************* Barium 0.00< 8.22 23.27 High ********************************* Lead 0.00< 5.00 10.39 High ******************************** Mercury 0.00< 1.00 7.43 High ********************************** Nickel 0.00< 3.00 23.26 High ********************************** Palladium 0.00< 1.40 4.07 High ********************************* Silver 0.00< 1.40 1.58 High ****************************** * The 95percentile Ranges listed represent baseline urine values for a healthy, unexposed population. Test values are calculated on the creatinine value. When crea levels are < 0,2g/l, the borderline value of 0,2g/L crea is used. Quality control: Dr. Rauland PhD; Validation: Dr E.Blaurock-Busch PhD MINERAL ANALYSIS Urine MICRO TRACE MINERALS Gm b h environmental & clinical laboratory Tin 0.00< 5.00 6.60 High ****************************** Titanium 0.00< 13.00 18.07 High ****************************** Ui 000 011 027 Hi h ******************************** MINERAL ANALYSIS OF YOUNG CHILD’S HAIR WONDERFONTEINSPRUIT CATCHMENT

MICRO TRACE MINERALS Gm b h environmental & clinical laboratory Essential Macroelements (ppm = mg/kg = mcg/g) Acceptable Range Test Value Low Acceptable Range High Calcium 200.00 -- 850.00 184.60 Low ********* Copper 6.70 -- 37.00 38.30 High ****************************** Iron 7.70 -- 15.00 21.92 High ****************************** Aluminum 0.00< 8.00 17.95 High ******************************** MINERAL ANALYSIS Childs' Hair MICRO TRACE MINERALS Gm b h environmental & clinical laboratory Potentially Toxic Elements (ppm = mg/kg = mcg/g) Acceptable Range Test Value High Nickel 0.00< 0.85 0.99 High ****************************** Silver 0.00< 1.00 2.07 High ******************************** Tin 0.00< 0.93 0.97 High ****************************** DESTRUCTION OF AQUATIC BIOTA DONALDSON DAM DWAF

• Establishment of the Wonderfontein Regulators Steering Committee (WRSC). • This Committee, consisting of officials of all the relevant Departments as well as from the Local Municipalities, will steer the whole remediation process. • The NNR will chair the WRSC. • The NNR will have stricter control on the discharges from the mines. • DWAF will ensure that all water use licenses be issued to the mines as soon as possible in an endeavour to stop contamination of the Wonderfontein Spruit. • All regulators agreed that remediation of the hotspots was required. • A Team of Experts (TOX) should be appointed to determine the priority hotspots. • The mines will be approached to contribute financially towards the remedial work to be done as per the findings of the TOX. • The approach will therefore be to get community involvement as soon as possible. STATUS REPORT ON THE ACTIONS ARISING FROM THE STUDY OF RADIOLOGICAL CONTAMINATION OF THE WONDERFONTEINSPRUIT CATCHMENT AREA (WCA)

Conclusion

The study undertaken by the NNR has confirmed the presence of radioactive contamination in the WCA.

Regulatory actions were taken to ensure that people and animals are protected. Preliminary results of analyses conducted on produce grown in the area have indicated that the dose levels are of radiological concern to the regulator.

The study has also highlighted the need for all the regulators to work closely together since the contamination includes non radiological contaminants such as heavy metals and salts.

The issues involved in the contamination in the Wonderfontein Catchment Area are complex. Assessment and analysis of the agricultural produce in the vicinity of the WCA The calculated doses in certain sampled points were above regulatory limits.

The NNR collected samples of vegetables (onions, asparagus and oats) and fish in the area and sent these for analysis.

The total doses from some the samples taken are above the dose constraints and dose limit of 250μSv/a and 1mSv/a respectively and are of safety concern from a radiological point of view.

The mines were directed to: •Conduct a comprehensive investigation in order to determine the full extent of the radioactive contamination arising from mining operations and provide a report to the NNR

•Not all the holders submitted the required reports. Of the submitted reports, there is a clear indication that a comprehensive assessment need to be done as little additional information was provided.

•Restrict access of the animals and the public or use of water for irrigation purposes to the identified sites, while further investigations were being carried out.

•These actions have been conducted on all sites within the scope of authorisation of the holders and the NNR is satisfied with the reports submitted. •Review and update environmental monitoring plans in light of the indications of radioactive contamination in the WCA •No reports were provided.

•Provide a schedule to review and update the Public Hazard Assessment of the mine, taking into account the leading pathways as identified through the study •No schedule was provided for the review of the PHAs.

URANIFEROUS TAILINGS SPILLAGES GROUNDWATER POLLUTION WARNING SIGN DONALDSON DAM DONALDSON DAM DONALDSON DAM MINE CLOSURE CHALLENGES

• "The Wonderfonteinspruit valley is densely populated because of its agricultural value and presence of gold mines.”

• "The majority of the inhabitants live in informal settlements, using contaminated ground‐ and stream water for personal hygiene and drinking. With above‐average infection rates of HIV/AIDS and chronic and acute malnutrition, this subpopulation is particularly vulnerable to additional stress of the immune system by contaminants such as uranium." DISRUPTED AND UNENRICHED COMMUNTIES • Mine closure “leaves behind destitute communities, now living on denuded landscapes, often relying on polluted water resources such as we are finding in the Wonderfontein Spruit case. It is this impact of mine closure that is not yet being considered by the Government Task Team for Mine Closure and Water Management, which is focusing instead on the narrow aspects of groundwater management as a function of mine safety, largely ignoring off‐mine consequences such as the fate and pathway of heavy metals and radionuclides into environmental sinks.” CLOSURE RISKS AND LIABILITIES • Inherent water quality risks • Gold mine ore bodies – associated with radionuclides • Hydrological interconnections between mines – cannot be considered in isolation • Tailings dams and waste rock dumps can never be maintained in completly reducing environment ‐ water risk ad inifinitum • Long term risk re formation of sinkholes EMPR Shortcomings • Incorrect assumption that AMD will decrease to acceptable levels when mining operations cease • Waste rock dumps: major pollution risks • Secondary source of contaminants (footprints) remain in soil after dump has been removed • Extent of contaminant plumes unassessed • Long term geohydrological regime (groundwater) not identified: – Extent of contamination – Preferential pathways – Predictions Impact on groundwater from metallurgical plants domestic and industrial waste sites Changes in ownership –not clear if new owners are required to address groundwater contamination re tailings and rock dumps and surface infrastructure FWRDA Call for amendment to Constitution of FWRDA