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In a determined effort to ensure the preservation of the country’s natural waterways, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) executed a significant operation on Monday, August 14th, 2023.
The operation targeted the removal of dredges along the Pampana River, specifically in the neighboring villages of Maneteh and Maseneh within the Tane Chiefdom, Tonkolili District.
This decisive action is part of an overarching initiative mandated by the nation’s leadership to effectively manage the proliferation of dredges along various rivers throughout the country. The primary goal is to exercise comprehensive control over the emergence of dredges and subsequently safeguard the rivers and the environment within diverse districts across the nation.
Reports indicate that the dredge miners, aware of the impending operation, attempted to evade the intervention by fleeing with their dredges. However, the EPA, employing the use of Jet Skies, managed to thwart their escape and execute a successful operation.
Interestingly, authorities uncovered the presence of Ghanaian passports accompanied by Sierra Leone Immigration clearances among the individuals associated with the dredge mining. This discovery has prompted an inquiry into the potential involvement of both foreign and indigenous elements in the unauthorized mining activities.
The EPA’s resolute efforts underscore the commitment of Sierra Leone to protect its natural resources and ecosystems.
As the nation continues to address environmental challenges, such decisive actions aim to mitigate the detrimental impact of unregulated dredge mining on its rivers and surrounding landscapes.
The Wanjei, Sewa, and many more rivers in Bo and Pujehun districts are infected with dredges owned by foreigners, clearance given to them government officials.
I believe that if Mercury is discovered being used to amalgamate gold the charges against the alleged should carry a death sentence. This in turn would put out a strong statement that may prove more effective. Mercury contamination is real. Gold is usually extracted using mercury for amalgamating the precious metal. While most of the mercury is removed for reuse or burned off, some may end up in rivers. Studies have found that small-scale miners are less efficient with their use of mercury than industrial miners, releasing an estimated 1.32 kg of mercury into waterways for every 1 kg of gold produced. Presence of microscopic mercury particles located or mixed with mineral sediments. It is mainly mercury that is discharged into the river waters with gold mining activities, but also other anthropogenic activities, such as the dismantling of the rainforest accompanied by the practice of burning, which releases by evaporation mercury naturally present in the soils. Mercury vapors, thus released into the atmosphere and after condensation, then fall back onto the ground in the form of microparticles and can then be transported to the rivers by leaching with rainwater. The main danger of this mercury is its transformation by anaerobic bacteria into methyl-mercury, especially when mercury particles are covered by stones, sands and other sediments, which necessarily happens with gold mining when these materials are returned to the bottom of the river after passing through gold extraction systems. When people eat contaminated fish, it will be absorbed into their gastro intestinal tract and will enter the bloodstream, being absorbed by the body. The way mercury accumulates in fish, it also accumulates in the human body. According to a researcher, in chronically contaminated adults, the person will have everything from sensory symptoms to motoric, and can also cause behavioral changes.
Among the most common changes in the most common sense organs are: decreased sensitivity in the hands and feet, deficiency in the sensation of heat or cold, ringing in the ear, taste with metallic taste, impaired smell and vision begins to tubular. People can suffer from tremors in the hands and feet, weakness, difficulty holding cup, climbing stairs and even having dizziness. The changes also compromise memory, learning and behavior, with symptoms of depression and anxiety, for example. These are changes that are often subclinical and can be confused with symptoms of other diseases. To a more severe degree, which leads to mortality, the greatest recurrence is in children. The pregnant woman, through umbilical cord blood, can transmit mercury to the baby that is in formation in her belly. If the mother’s contamination rates are too high, the child may be born with severe symptoms such as malformation, cerebral palsy and even death. However, the problems associated with mercury contamination do not come only locally. In fact, through the migration of certain predatory fish species, this contaminant can thus leave freshwater rivers and, through fishing and the international seafood trade, reach the whole world. On the other hand and from the point of view of climate protection, it is important to highlight that the decomposition of organic matter in the absence of oxygen, especially at great depths causes, under the action of anaerobic bacteria, a natural methanization. However, CH4 methane is a greenhouse gas with a potency 23 times that of carbon dioxide. Removing organic matter from the bottom of the river, thus avoiding its methanization, would therefore be beneficial for climate protection, but could also be seen as a negative action to aquatic life due to the disturbance of the natural habitat of certain species of fish, crustaceans and other invertebrates that live and feed at the bottom of the river. But it should be noted that the presence of mercury in this environment is, in the long run, much more harmful to this aquatic life, in particular by the direct interference of mercury micro particles or its indirect assimilation by phytoplankton due to its transformation into methyl-mercury, than the local disturbance of the riverbed by the loss of this biological material. On the other hand, the latter is quickly replaced by new biological components constantly brought by the flow of water and deposited at the bottom of the river.
Responsible, licensed mining projects should be encouraged with the mechanization of the indigenous small scale mining sector. What the western world deems “recreational mining equipment” could provide effective solutions for mineral & fine gold recovery and sustainability in the future. Keene Engineering Inc. is one such company that is manufacturing this type of equipment. Implementation is the key; time & tide wait for none…
The rokel river and many other rivers in Koinadugu district are infected with dredges making the rivers unsafe for even the fishes swimming in. I really wish the EPA continues this operation as effective as possible to put a stop to this bad practices.