The Democratic Republic of Congo will seek compensation from the owners of an Angolan diamond mine after a tailings dam leak polluted drinking water, causing 12 deaths and making thousands of people ill, the country’s environment minister said on Thursday.
The late-July leak from Angola’s biggest diamond mine turned a tributary of the Congo River red following a rupture in a spillway for the mine’s tailings dam, which stores mining industry waste meant to stay undisturbed.
Researchers at Kinshasha University last month pointed to “huge pollution” that affected some 2 million people, killed fish and caused diarrhoea among river communities. read more
Congo, which shares a 1,600-mile (2,575 km) long border with Angola, will seek compensation in line with the “polluter pays” principle, where those who produce pollution should bear the cost of mitigating it, Eve Bazaiba told a media conference after visiting the country’s southern Kasai province.
Bazaiba said she could not yet say how much in damages the country could seek. She said 4,400 people had fallen ill.
The mine’s operator, Sociedade Mineira de Catoca, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the damages claim and deaths listed by the minister.
The leak and deaths represent the latest in a string of tailings disasters for the global mining industry that investors, executives and environmentalists have tried to curtail with safety and inspection standards introduced last year.
Not all companies – including Catoca – have publicly committed to the standards, which are non-binding, further fuelling questions about how the standards can cause industry-wide change if not all mines and mining companies adhere.
Adam Matthews, chief responsible investment officer for the Church of England Pensions Board, which was also instrumental in drawing up the safety norms, said the leak was a reminder that tailings management requires continued attention from industry, governments and investors.
He said investors and the United Nations are developing an Independent International Institute which would implement the standard and verify companies’ compliance with it.
Source: Reuters
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