Chinese mine causes environmental disaster in zambia on the kafue river

[Hunter-Habib]

The Chinese built a bridge in Dacca a few years ago. A part of it collapsed within a year and killed 27 people.

 

[KJE81]

Typical of communist environment concerns or rather the complete lack thereof.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

Sorry to hear about this Mike. This is especially sad for the multitudes of people living along the river, depending on it for water and fish. Their lives and livelihoods have been severely disrupted. Hopefully, the Zambian government will hold the Chinese business accountable, but I doubt it.

 

[Elkeater]

I was just reading up on copper mine leaching. And the damage can last for decades

I live in a copper town. Yes the damage is real and anyone who says it’s not is self serving and only interested in the money in their pockets.

This whole scene reminds me of the disaster (and I don’t use that term lightly) that happened in CO a few years ago. It’s a terrible experience for those who are affected and should serve as a reminder to the rest of us to safeguard our waterways from all threats.

With all that being said mining is a double edged sword that can lead to this but is also necessary if we want cars, computers, electricity, phones, etc. I haven’t figured out how to get around having those things yet.

 

[wesheltonj]

Mike so sorry to hear this. The only saving grace is that the river is not high enough for the contaminated water to enter your pond.

I doubt the Chinese do anything meaningful to clean it up, other than some photo opportunity.

 

[dogcat1]

Expect worse from the Chinese and no clean up. They are as bad as Palestinians.

 

[Beck]

This is terrible, and a great example of why a country should never lease mining rights to a Chinese company

 

[Hunt anything]

This really sucks, seeing the fish kill is just the beginning. Unfortunately the effects will last for years. From the aquatic insects that feed the remaining fish and the birds to the animals that depend on the water to drink not to mention the people that depend on the river for cooking, irrigation and bathing water.
Others have said it, the Chinese to give a shit about anyone. They are a boil on the ass of the world.

 

[Russ16]

I wonder how far downstream the impact will be felt. Doesn’t that feed into the Zambezi?

 

[Ontario Hunter]

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.

 

[spike.t]

Unbelievably horrible. Are there any more rains coming?

Will be...been quite a lot recently

 

[Ontario Hunter]

I would think the metal contamination will be the most significant long term environmental impact. The acids should dilute relatively quickly (key word being "relatively").

 

[bowjijohn]

The Chinese have been in Zambia since the early 70s

Anglo American owned and ran all the mines from Chililabombwe (Bancroft) to Kabwe (Broken Hill)

They were far from perfect but better than the chinks

 

[spike.t]

I wonder how far downstream the impact will be felt. Doesn’t that feed into the Zambezi?

So far last report was around 280kms down stream from mine...water there tested at ph 4.1 which I believe is very acidic....lot of dead fish there....eventually ends up in zambezi....got some swamps to go through yet then itezhi tezhi dam ....

 

[DLSJR]

Besides the fish, hippos, crocs and all wildlife that drinks from the river will be affected. Might take longer for those large animals, but it’s going to kill lots of them also.

The Chinese are a scourge, everywhere they go.