Acid Mine Drainage is Bad for Your Health
According to a new article published in The Citizen:
“As mines come to the end of their lives, mining companies stop pumping water from abandoned shafts. Water can then flood in, mix with chemical sludge and eventually spill to the surface like an overflowing bath.
“The toxic brew seeps into streams and water catchments and is often used for irrigation. The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has linked long-term exposure to Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) to cancer, skin lesions and mental retardation.
“The Environmental Protection Agency has previously rated the ecological risk associated with mining waste as second ‘only to global warming and stratospheric ozone depletion.’ In its March 2008 Emerging Issues Paper, the Department for Environmental Affairs and Tourism warned that long-term effects of AMD could persist for ‘several hundred years.’ ”