Minister refutes claims of pollution

The Minister for Environment and Conservation, when giving his ministerial statement on the incident at the Basamuk refinery, said claims of pollution and dead fish as a result of the slurry spill are unfounded and have no scientific basis.

Minister Geoffrey Kama said the death of marine species in the Astrolabe Bay is an isolated incident, and there is no casual link between the dead fish elsewhere and the slurry spill at Basamuk Bay.

Minister Kama told Parliament that the Conservation and Environment Protection Authority’s (CEPA) investigation has confirmed that 200,000 liters of raw slurry had actually overflowed from one of the company’s surge tanks within the Basamuk Plant site.

The slurry spill discoloured the sea.

Minister Kama went on and told Parliament that the results from  the study commissioned by CEPA show that the heavy metals recorded are near baseline conditions of the marine waters and are within the terms and conditions specified under the Environment Permit.

He further stressed that the marine waters around Basamuk Bay and the nearby areas are now safe for swimming and recreational purposes only.

The CEPA report made four recommendations for further assessment to be considered and acted on.

The four recommendations made are:

  1. Need for a thorough sampling and analysis to be conducted to established a relationship with the heavy metal components of the slurry concentrate and the baseline or background data obtained during pre-construction period;
  2. A need for further sampling to be conducted to establish heavy metal concentrations in the shoreline and benthic sediments as most of the spill material will be settled at the bottom sediments;
  3. A need for further fish tissue, seaweeds/grass, shellfish/crustaceans, etc, sampling must be done to ascertain bioaccumulation and ototoxicity from heavy metal concentration from the slurry spill impact; and
  4. A need for further sampling and analysis of heavy metals must be done to include the metal components of the slurry concentrate.

Minister Kama reiterated that as soon as the findings of the next course of investigations are completed, they will inform the people as to whether they can be allowed to return to their normal lives to catch and consume fish.

Author: 
Freddy Mou