KAWA MULTIMEDIA PUBLICATIONS
Paying for pollution
Zambia's mining industry was the engine for economic growth, but now the country is counting the environmental cost.
Walking along the bank of a silted up canal, a couple of girls chatter to each other as they head for the local market. Nearby, a group of smaller children play on the dusty ground outside their house. It could be a scene from any town in Zambia. But this is Kabwe and just by being out in the open, the children could well be putting themselves at risk - not from attack or disease but from lead poisoning.
"I have been unable to find similar blood lead levels to those in Kabwe anywhere else in the world/' claims Kapumpe Valentine Musakanya, who runs the Kabwe Environmental and Rehabilitation Foundation. "The situation has improved slightly since the mine closed down but thousands of people are still being affected and an enormous amount still needs to be done."
Kabwe's current problems stem from its former lead mine and smelter operation, which were the biggest on the continent and the very life-blood of the town. From 1904 until its closure in 1994, the mine provided employment for the people of Kabwe and precious foreign exchange for the Zambian government. After it was shut, poverty levels soared and thousands of Kabwe's inhabitants left in search of work. And while many people now refer to it as a ghost town, few are aware that Kabwe continues to be haunted by a dangerous environmental legacy of the mine lead contamination.
Over the past decade, soil samples taken from various parts of the town point to lead concentrations far in excess of internation¬ally recognised safety levels. For instance, guidelines suggest that the lead content of soil in residential areas should not be more than 400 parts per million, but some tests conducted in Kabwe in 1995 recorded lead levels of between 4,000ppm and 21,000ppm.
And even more heavily contaminated sites - such as the waste dumps and the drainage canal - are little more than a stone's throw away from people's houses. All of which poses a potentially grave threat to Kabwe's inhabitants.
"There is certainly a serious problem in Kabwe because residential areas are situated so close to the mining operations and because water supplies have been contam-inated," says Peter Sinkambe, executive director of Citizens for a Better Environment.
High levels of lead can result in a range of medical complaints from nausea and vomiting to kidney damage. Lead poison-ingis also believed to be connected to mental retardation. In extreme cases, lead poison¬ing can kill. According to Musakanya, tens of thousands of people have been affected over the pas I century and thousands continue to suffer.
The mines in Kabwe are largely obsolete and the task now is to reduce their environmental impact.
To back up his arguments, he points to the fact that normal blood lead levels should be around 10-20 microgrammes per decalitre. Today in Kabwe, blood samples from children under the age of five point to an average level of around 40mcg/dl. And while the mine was functioning, thefigurewaseven worse. Musakanya believes that the levels are so high that many people must have died from over-exposure to lead. He claims that many lead-related deaths are often attributed to malaria and HIVbecause the symptoms are similar. "1 have not come across any information that people are dying or have died of lead poisoning in Kabwe," says James Kalowa of ZCCM Investments Holdings pic. ZCCM was at one stage the company that managed the mine; it is now involved in trying to clean up the environmental mess left by the mining industry across Zambia. "Our prelim¬inary studies indicate that there is a lead prob¬lem in Kabwe but we will have to wait until the results of our systematic survey before we know the full extent of the health risks and what measures need to be put in place."
Some steps have already been taken. An initial, small-scale mitigation plan in the 1990s involved the supply of low-lead soil to cover some households and children's play areas, the examination of drinking water supplies and the treatment of children with high lead levels. Meanwhile, the current official study which is part of the broader Copperbelt Environment Project and which was initiated by ZCCM and the government - should provide a better assessment of the danger and the best course of action to pursue.
However, although the government and the international community do appear keen to try and resolve the problem, the process is too slow for people like Musakanya. "We have to start educating the people now," he said. "They have been kept in the dark for too long and without a proper awareness campaign, no progress will be made. They must be taught that they have to change their behaviour."
Musakanya's NGO has now begun an educational campaign, handing out pamphlets about the effects of lead poisoning and how to prevent it - such as better hygiene, regularly dusting the house and stopping small children from playing around in the dirt. But in the long term, major programmes need to be undertaken. The dumps need to be covered in vegetation or capped with concrete to prevent dust being blown across the town, and medical staff need to be properly trained and equipped to deal with the problem. All of which will require vast sums of time and, most importantly, money.
"We are talking about tens of millions of US dollars," claimed Musakanya. "And even if we get that, Kabwe won't return to normality for decades."
Unfortunately, the same could well be true of other mining areas across the country, even though they do not pose a similar potential threat to human health. At the moment, discussions are under way between the World Bank, the Zambian damage government and ZCCM about a compre-hensive programme to rehabilitate Kabwe and mining-affected parts of the Copperbelt. The project is sched uled to start in around 12 months' time and will then run for five years.
But the problems are immense -ranging from what to do with the four-kilometre long Nchanga open cast copper pit to stabilising, underground tunnels, to cleaning the polluted upper reaches of the Kafue river, to> patchingup the damage fromsulphur dioxide emissions. "Obviously there are some serious concerns on the Copperbelt, but in the long term they are all manageable because the: political will is there," said Kalowa. ''The only problem will be ensuring continued support from the local communities and, more importantly, accessing sufficient funding." The World Bank is lending the government tens of millions of dollars bul getting hold of additional funding is likely tc prove extremely difficult. "I don't think that the funds we are talking about under the environmental programme will be enough/' said the World Bank's Alex Mwanakasale. "I think there will def i ni tely be a shortfall and T am not sure if there will be extra donor funds available for the cleaning up exercise."
Sinkambe believes that full decommis¬sioning and rehabilitation will require around US$2bn. It is a figure that is scoffed at by most officials and many other environmentalists. But it is clear that a lot more money will be needed. The question is from where. The answer, according to some, is from the mining companies themselves. "Our aim is to try and track down the companies who have been involved over the years so that they pay their fair share of the cost/' said Sinkambe. "The government is very serious about remediation work but it can not borrow any more money so we need the companies to contribute."
Part of a global network of NGOs, Citizens for a Better Environment is pressing for the establishment of new UN-controlled sanctions which could be imposed on mining companies who do not assu me at least some responsibility for cleaning up the mess left over from their operations. Rather than suffer this public embarrassment, the hope is that the companies would voluntarily pay up. Meanwhile, they could also be targeted for compensation via the courts.
However, not everyone agrees that this is the best way forward. "Compensation is not the best course of action," said Musakanya. "We do not want to drag companies or the government to court because it will never get anywhere. It is much better to try and work together so that the situation starts improving now."
A joint campaign certainly offers the best hope for the future. But it still appears lo be a long way off. In the meantime, poverty-stricken Zambians in Kabwe and the Copperbelt will continue to count the cost.
Walking along the bank of a silted up canal, a couple of girls chatter to each other as they head for the local market. Nearby, a group of smaller children play on the dusty ground outside their house. It could be a scene from any town in Zambia. But this is Kabwe and just by being out in the open, the children could well be putting themselves at risk - not from attack or disease but from lead poisoning.
"I have been unable to find similar blood lead levels to those in Kabwe anywhere else in the world/' claims Kapumpe Valentine Musakanya, who runs the Kabwe Environmental and Rehabilitation Foundation. "The situation has improved slightly since the mine closed down but thousands of people are still being affected and an enormous amount still needs to be done."
Kabwe's current problems stem from its former lead mine and smelter operation, which were the biggest on the continent and the very life-blood of the town. From 1904 until its closure in 1994, the mine provided employment for the people of Kabwe and precious foreign exchange for the Zambian government. After it was shut, poverty levels soared and thousands of Kabwe's inhabitants left in search of work. And while many people now refer to it as a ghost town, few are aware that Kabwe continues to be haunted by a dangerous environmental legacy of the mine lead contamination.
Over the past decade, soil samples taken from various parts of the town point to lead concentrations far in excess of internation¬ally recognised safety levels. For instance, guidelines suggest that the lead content of soil in residential areas should not be more than 400 parts per million, but some tests conducted in Kabwe in 1995 recorded lead levels of between 4,000ppm and 21,000ppm.
And even more heavily contaminated sites - such as the waste dumps and the drainage canal - are little more than a stone's throw away from people's houses. All of which poses a potentially grave threat to Kabwe's inhabitants.
"There is certainly a serious problem in Kabwe because residential areas are situated so close to the mining operations and because water supplies have been contam-inated," says Peter Sinkambe, executive director of Citizens for a Better Environment.
High levels of lead can result in a range of medical complaints from nausea and vomiting to kidney damage. Lead poison-ingis also believed to be connected to mental retardation. In extreme cases, lead poison¬ing can kill. According to Musakanya, tens of thousands of people have been affected over the pas I century and thousands continue to suffer.
The mines in Kabwe are largely obsolete and the task now is to reduce their environmental impact.
To back up his arguments, he points to the fact that normal blood lead levels should be around 10-20 microgrammes per decalitre. Today in Kabwe, blood samples from children under the age of five point to an average level of around 40mcg/dl. And while the mine was functioning, thefigurewaseven worse. Musakanya believes that the levels are so high that many people must have died from over-exposure to lead. He claims that many lead-related deaths are often attributed to malaria and HIVbecause the symptoms are similar. "1 have not come across any information that people are dying or have died of lead poisoning in Kabwe," says James Kalowa of ZCCM Investments Holdings pic. ZCCM was at one stage the company that managed the mine; it is now involved in trying to clean up the environmental mess left by the mining industry across Zambia. "Our prelim¬inary studies indicate that there is a lead prob¬lem in Kabwe but we will have to wait until the results of our systematic survey before we know the full extent of the health risks and what measures need to be put in place."
Some steps have already been taken. An initial, small-scale mitigation plan in the 1990s involved the supply of low-lead soil to cover some households and children's play areas, the examination of drinking water supplies and the treatment of children with high lead levels. Meanwhile, the current official study which is part of the broader Copperbelt Environment Project and which was initiated by ZCCM and the government - should provide a better assessment of the danger and the best course of action to pursue.
However, although the government and the international community do appear keen to try and resolve the problem, the process is too slow for people like Musakanya. "We have to start educating the people now," he said. "They have been kept in the dark for too long and without a proper awareness campaign, no progress will be made. They must be taught that they have to change their behaviour."
Musakanya's NGO has now begun an educational campaign, handing out pamphlets about the effects of lead poisoning and how to prevent it - such as better hygiene, regularly dusting the house and stopping small children from playing around in the dirt. But in the long term, major programmes need to be undertaken. The dumps need to be covered in vegetation or capped with concrete to prevent dust being blown across the town, and medical staff need to be properly trained and equipped to deal with the problem. All of which will require vast sums of time and, most importantly, money.
"We are talking about tens of millions of US dollars," claimed Musakanya. "And even if we get that, Kabwe won't return to normality for decades."
Unfortunately, the same could well be true of other mining areas across the country, even though they do not pose a similar potential threat to human health. At the moment, discussions are under way between the World Bank, the Zambian damage government and ZCCM about a compre-hensive programme to rehabilitate Kabwe and mining-affected parts of the Copperbelt. The project is sched uled to start in around 12 months' time and will then run for five years.
But the problems are immense -ranging from what to do with the four-kilometre long Nchanga open cast copper pit to stabilising, underground tunnels, to cleaning the polluted upper reaches of the Kafue river, to> patchingup the damage fromsulphur dioxide emissions. "Obviously there are some serious concerns on the Copperbelt, but in the long term they are all manageable because the: political will is there," said Kalowa. ''The only problem will be ensuring continued support from the local communities and, more importantly, accessing sufficient funding." The World Bank is lending the government tens of millions of dollars bul getting hold of additional funding is likely tc prove extremely difficult. "I don't think that the funds we are talking about under the environmental programme will be enough/' said the World Bank's Alex Mwanakasale. "I think there will def i ni tely be a shortfall and T am not sure if there will be extra donor funds available for the cleaning up exercise."
Sinkambe believes that full decommis¬sioning and rehabilitation will require around US$2bn. It is a figure that is scoffed at by most officials and many other environmentalists. But it is clear that a lot more money will be needed. The question is from where. The answer, according to some, is from the mining companies themselves. "Our aim is to try and track down the companies who have been involved over the years so that they pay their fair share of the cost/' said Sinkambe. "The government is very serious about remediation work but it can not borrow any more money so we need the companies to contribute."
Part of a global network of NGOs, Citizens for a Better Environment is pressing for the establishment of new UN-controlled sanctions which could be imposed on mining companies who do not assu me at least some responsibility for cleaning up the mess left over from their operations. Rather than suffer this public embarrassment, the hope is that the companies would voluntarily pay up. Meanwhile, they could also be targeted for compensation via the courts.
However, not everyone agrees that this is the best way forward. "Compensation is not the best course of action," said Musakanya. "We do not want to drag companies or the government to court because it will never get anywhere. It is much better to try and work together so that the situation starts improving now."
A joint campaign certainly offers the best hope for the future. But it still appears lo be a long way off. In the meantime, poverty-stricken Zambians in Kabwe and the Copperbelt will continue to count the cost.
Activity
Study the table below showing the value of Zambia's exports for period 1975-1979 in millions of Kwacha.
|
YEARS |
1975 |
1976 |
1977 |
1978 |
1979 |
|
COPPER |
472.0 |
688.7 |
644 |
596.7 |
925.3 |
|
ZINC |
20.3 |
120.6 |
17.9 |
7.6 |
29.4 |
|
LEAD |
5.7 |
4.4 |
5.7 |
3.3 |
6.9 |
|
COBALT |
7.1 |
15.9 |
16.2 |
36.7 |
135.3 |
|
TOBACCO |
5.0 |
5.1 |
5.9 |
3.5 |
4.0 |
|
MAIZE |
2.6 |
7.6 |
3.5 |
7.8 |
- |
|
TOTAL |
743.6 |
900.4 |
708.0 |
655.6 |
1,118.8 |
State 3 facts revealed by the table about the exports of copper in Zambia.
Zambia's copper export earning were lowest at 472 million Kwacha mainly due to the closure of the Banguela line to Lobito port in angola during the Angolan war of liberation which ended in 1975.
Copper export earnings rose remarkably in the following year 1976 after the completion of the Tazara line to Dar-es-salaam and Mombasa.
The decline in 1977/78 period may be due to copper's international market price fluctuations, and liberation struggles by Zimbabwe against racial minority regimes in Zimbabwe.
Give 2 facts revealed by the table about zinc exports.
Zinc export earnings rose in 1976 and 1979 but declined at 18 million Kwacha in 1977/78.
Which one of the exports has had a steady increase in earnings? One, which had steady increase, was cobalt.
Compare the earnings from tobacco and maize as revealed by the table.
Tobacco generally had a more sure income although it slightly declined in 1978 and rose in 1979 at 3.5 to 4.0 Million kwacha respectively. Maize showed decline in 1975 and in 1977 and to nothing in 1979. Tobacco and maize reflect a disastrous economic structure of Zambia.
Choose either copper or cobalt.
(i) Name 2 places where the mineral chosen is mined in Africa outside East Africa.
(ii) Describe the method used in mining it.
(b) (i) Zambia's copper can be mined from the copper belt centres such as Nchanga and Baluba.
The mining method applied at Nchanga is open cast and open pit at Baluba, Chambishi and Kalongwa. Most mines vary underground though have much in common by the method of mining the ore and bringing it to the surface for concentration, smelting and refining.
Copper from underground is mined by sinking main shafts and tunnels connected up in the middle with a cage and two small compartments fitted up with 10ton skips, one to carry the rock ore and the other electricity cables, air and water pipes.
The rock at the sea is blasted with the help of explosives. The broken ore drops down into the sub-level tunnel through a draw point.
Diesel front end loaders clear the ore as it drops through. The ore which is in large blocks is crashed into small lumps. This small lumps are lifted to the surface in containers known as skips.
From the slopes the ore is conveyed onto trucks before being hauled to the surface for further processing. Caving is applied to mines that have gone so deep like Mufulira.
Explain the problems faced in exploiting the minerals at one of the sites you have named above.
• Mufulira mine is now too deep. This raises operational costs
• There are risks of mine disasters as in 1972.
• Shortage of labour.
• Poisonous gases which may cause lung cancer.
• Hardness of rocks which require expensive machines.
• Flooding of mines in case of heavy rains.
The ports through which the mineral is exported. The quickest and most efficient
transport route is through
• Zimbabwe to port Beira in Mozambique.
• To the west through Angola, Bangwela to Lobito.
• Through Tanzania to Dar-es-salaam.
What problems are faced in transporting the minerals to ports of export.
• The port of Nacala in Mozambique is not well developed.
• Dar-es-salaam is congested though safe and independent.
• The Beira corridor in Mozambique used to suffer from risks of rebel attacks.
Explain how some of these problems have been solved by the use of the Tazara railway line.
The Tazara railway is direct to Dar-es-salaam and free from rebel activities. In 1975 the Tazara railway helped to carry about 50,000 tones of copper to Dar-es Salaam port although the world market prices continued to fluctuate.
The Tazara reduced the high costs of transport on long distances to the ports on the Atlantic Oceans.
Zambia's copper export earning were lowest at 472 million Kwacha mainly due to the closure of the Banguela line to Lobito port in angola during the Angolan war of liberation which ended in 1975.
Copper export earnings rose remarkably in the following year 1976 after the completion of the Tazara line to Dar-es-salaam and Mombasa.
The decline in 1977/78 period may be due to copper's international market price fluctuations, and liberation struggles by Zimbabwe against racial minority regimes in Zimbabwe.
Give 2 facts revealed by the table about zinc exports.
Zinc export earnings rose in 1976 and 1979 but declined at 18 million Kwacha in 1977/78.
Which one of the exports has had a steady increase in earnings? One, which had steady increase, was cobalt.
Compare the earnings from tobacco and maize as revealed by the table.
Tobacco generally had a more sure income although it slightly declined in 1978 and rose in 1979 at 3.5 to 4.0 Million kwacha respectively. Maize showed decline in 1975 and in 1977 and to nothing in 1979. Tobacco and maize reflect a disastrous economic structure of Zambia.
Choose either copper or cobalt.
(i) Name 2 places where the mineral chosen is mined in Africa outside East Africa.
(ii) Describe the method used in mining it.
(b) (i) Zambia's copper can be mined from the copper belt centres such as Nchanga and Baluba.
The mining method applied at Nchanga is open cast and open pit at Baluba, Chambishi and Kalongwa. Most mines vary underground though have much in common by the method of mining the ore and bringing it to the surface for concentration, smelting and refining.
Copper from underground is mined by sinking main shafts and tunnels connected up in the middle with a cage and two small compartments fitted up with 10ton skips, one to carry the rock ore and the other electricity cables, air and water pipes.
The rock at the sea is blasted with the help of explosives. The broken ore drops down into the sub-level tunnel through a draw point.
Diesel front end loaders clear the ore as it drops through. The ore which is in large blocks is crashed into small lumps. This small lumps are lifted to the surface in containers known as skips.
From the slopes the ore is conveyed onto trucks before being hauled to the surface for further processing. Caving is applied to mines that have gone so deep like Mufulira.
Explain the problems faced in exploiting the minerals at one of the sites you have named above.
• Mufulira mine is now too deep. This raises operational costs
• There are risks of mine disasters as in 1972.
• Shortage of labour.
• Poisonous gases which may cause lung cancer.
• Hardness of rocks which require expensive machines.
• Flooding of mines in case of heavy rains.
The ports through which the mineral is exported. The quickest and most efficient
transport route is through
• Zimbabwe to port Beira in Mozambique.
• To the west through Angola, Bangwela to Lobito.
• Through Tanzania to Dar-es-salaam.
What problems are faced in transporting the minerals to ports of export.
• The port of Nacala in Mozambique is not well developed.
• Dar-es-salaam is congested though safe and independent.
• The Beira corridor in Mozambique used to suffer from risks of rebel attacks.
Explain how some of these problems have been solved by the use of the Tazara railway line.
The Tazara railway is direct to Dar-es-salaam and free from rebel activities. In 1975 the Tazara railway helped to carry about 50,000 tones of copper to Dar-es Salaam port although the world market prices continued to fluctuate.
The Tazara reduced the high costs of transport on long distances to the ports on the Atlantic Oceans.