Chinese mine causes environmental disaster in zambia on the kafue river

[Hunt anything]

Our Environmental Protection Agency could probably be of some assistance, they have great experience cleaning up rivers, and what they called Super Sights” heavily contaminated lands with heavy metals. Oh wait we can’t do it because our president is on a firing spree and has fired a lot of the agencies workers.

 

[spike.t]

Our Environmental Protection Agency could probably be of some assistance, they have great experience cleaning up rivers, and what they called Super Sights” heavily contaminated lands with heavy metals. Oh wait we can’t do it because our president is on a firing spree and has fired a lot of the agencies workers.

Mmm...I doubt it....trying to play in the mud in this area isn't much fun....I got back from ranch last Thursday...few days before I left I had "fun " after getting cruiser stuck in dambo up from the same river....4 hours with 2 scouts digging...cutting branches..logs etc etc etc...to eventually get out.....water table is maybe foot to two feet down and as soon as you start chewing the ground it turns into liquid shit ....so heavy plant is going to be useless...cause more shit with the contaminated ground than just leaving it

 

[flatwater bill]

China's MEE...........the Ministry of Ecology and Environment takes care of this.............you can expect to hear from them....................about never.
So sorry, Spike..............FWB

 

[Hunt anything]

You’re correct but I’ve seen some clean up spots that had track hoes buried up to the windows, floated out on barges then go back to loading other barges with contaminated soil and new soil (mud) brought in and when they’re done you never would have known. Granted these are smaller areas and not a complete river system.
Sorry there is no practical solution to this mess and the Chinese probably don’t give 2 shits about it. Sounds like you have the same mud as we do in the river bottoms and cypress brakes of the south.

 

[WAB]

A specialist in this field in SA who the guys were put in contact with and who given as much information as possible, and she also looked up as much as she could on the river system basically said....you need to dig a massive reservoir just off river...then prepare a dam/,blocking wall so that when the ph drops that water can be diverted into the holding area, then when ph heads back up close the entrance to holding area and seal it off...then start treating the water...she said bout 100 000 tons of lime would be needed as it's quite a big river system.....this obviously is impossible.....she said tge main thing is to stabilise the dam site which due to it being on a small subsidiary is doable.....then treat the water and release as its ready...but also to sort the soil etc for heavy metals etc....but it that's not done correctly it will cause even more of a fkup and also long term problems....the area can't be cleaned correctly due to the rains making it nearly impossible to use heavy plant equipment in proximity to the rivers.....so it happened at the worst time of the year......she also said dumping lime into the river as the Chinese arseholes are doing at various points will create big environmental problems that will be ongoing....so fk knows how this shitstorm will pan out.....and I wish I could have done that in a voice message...as am trying to have a beer..

I’m sorry Mike, your river is royally screwed. If this were in the US and all of our resources were put on it, it would still be a huge disaster and take years to mitigate. With the challenges you face in Zambia, I just don’t see a good outcome. I guess they should have let the poachers fish that river out. Those fish are all dead now.

 

[WAB]

Mmm...I doubt it....trying to play in the mud in this area isn't much fun....I got back from ranch last Thursday...few days before I left I had "fun " after getting cruiser stuck in dambo up from the same river....4 hours with 2 scouts digging...cutting branches..logs etc etc etc...to eventually get out.....water table is maybe foot to two feet down and as soon as you start chewing the ground it turns into liquid shit ....so heavy plant is going to be useless...cause more shit with the contaminated ground than just leaving it

Any way you can raise your dam to keep your lake filling up off the river?

 

[spike.t]

Any way you can raise your dam to keep your lake filling up off the river?

At moment its nowhere near high enough to come in through spillways....last couple days river been dropping small amounts...but that changes quite fast if rain up river....but needs to come up 8 feet or so to try going in.....

 

[wesheltonj]

At moment its nowhere near high enough to come in through spillways....last couple days river been dropping small amounts...but that changes quite fast if rain up river....but needs to come up 8 feet or so to try going in.....

I would try to fill in the spillway as much as possible so you don't get any of the contaminated water in your pond.

 

[Hunt anything]

I was wondering if acidic water has a higher or lower specific gravity? I think the proper question is if the contaminated water would sink below the normal ph water. If so the benthic creatures will catch hell and upper water column fish have a chance if you get some good rain.

I guess you can tell I’m grasping for straws and looking for any silver lining that may be out there.

 

[bashaw]

Not good. This is obviously a large company with sufficient resources to avoid such problems.

It’s a Chinese Communist Party company! good luck! Pay a couple bribes & that'll be that

 

[Neophyte]

China can’t be trusted and should be bombed back to the Stone Age.

 

[bashaw]

I

We all like to throw copper bullets away by the truckload. You know they don't pick that stuff off of trees. It's a very dirty business. We have imposed all manner of regulation to cripple copper mining in North America but we still insist on consumption at an exponential rate. It's gotta come from somewhere.

In USA the ffn greenie’s are pretending they’re saving the earth, but all they do is shut down or hinder American natural resource operations in the US that are trying to do things right & then the CCP go rape in other parts of the world, usually 3rd world countries.

 

[Brian]

On 18th Feb a tailings dam at a Chinese mine broke releasing a huge amount of contaminated water into a tributary of the kafue river....it reached us yesterday...we are approx 200 kms down river....the river has foam on it and turns a green colour from the small green particles floating in the water....huge amounts of fish can be seen dead or gasping for oxygen in the shallow water near the banks.....government has cut water supplies to towns , and warned people not to eat the dead fish.....crops that were irrigated using the water have been contaminated and poisoned....this morning another farm roughly 40 kms down river reported it had reached them....so now over 240 kms from mine and still poisoning fish....and obviously causing mayhem with anything in the ecosystem being poisoned.....

NOTICE
Kitwe, 20th February, 2025
WATER SUPPLY SHUTDOWN - KITWE
Nkana Water Supply and Sanitation Company wishes to inform its esteemed customers in Kitwe that the water supply to the City of Kitwe has been shut down today 20th February 2025 on suspicion of contamination in the Kafue River, the source of our raw water.
The Company has continued monitoring the situation. Please be advised that the water that was supplied before the shutdown is safe for consumption.
We would like to assure our esteemed customers that the situation is being monitored closely and updates will be provided periodically.
The inconvenience caused is deeply regretted.
Issued by Public Relations


View attachment 667650
I have numerous videos including the toxic water flooding out of the dam but can't post as not linked to anything...here some photos but don't give the real idea of the scale of this disaster...

View attachment 667651

Thanks for the info, Brian

 

[gillettehunter]

Mike I'm so sorry to hear about this. Sounds like a first class mess. I hope you can keep your pond clean.... This sounds like years of problems. What a pain. Best of luck.
Bruce