– as EPA fines company, issues cease order for polluting Kara Kara creek
– company seeking corrective solutions to problem

By Vanessa Braithwaite
THE Bosai Mineral Group Guyana (BMGG) has temporarily halted its wash-plant operation, following a cease order by the Environmental Protect Agency (EPA), following a notification that bauxite sedimentation from the company’s tailings pond is being discharged into the Kara Kara creek, causing discolouration and a high turbidity level. The company was fined $1,066,000 by the EPA, and will resume operation when the situation is corrected.
This was confirmed by EPA’s Executive Director Dr. Vincent Adams. Adams related to this newspaper that the investigation has been completed and that is what effected the fine. While it is unfortunate that the creek has already been polluted, Adams said that the EPA is working now with Bosai on remedial action, to ensure it does not occur again. A team is expected to visit Linden on Friday (today), to have a firsthand look at the engineering designs for a new tailings pond, to be presented by Bosai. He said EPA is not only interested in what is placed on paper but on how effective the designs will be, in the actual fields.

When this publication contacted Bosai’s Senior Technical Service Coordinator, Wainewright Bethune, he explained that the company is in compliance with all environmental regulations and procedures, as stipulated by EPA and is hoping to resume operations within the next three weeks, since the general operation of the company is grossly affected by the situation, though none of the other departments have stopped working.
Adams, however, said he cannot comment on a definitive timeline when it will be resolved, until the designs and demonstration of use, are put to EPA after the field visit. “Each activity will have a timeline attached to same to determine if it would work in the real,” Adams related.

Bethune explained that since the company installed the dust collectors to significantly reduce air pollution, with little or no dust being emitted into the air, the dust is now being pumped into the tailings pond and far from the company’s expectation, it is not settling as quickly as expected. When the bauxite is washed in the company’s plant, it is transported into the tailings pond, where it is expected to settle and only the clear water should be discharged into the creek and other water bodies. The finer particles pumped into the pond needed some residence time to settle, but apparently this was not as effective as expected to be.

Bosai, however, is seeking several engineering solutions to the issue, as Bethune said multiple things must be done to get the situation under control. Bosai is currently doing a survey to determine whether the dike where the operation is done, should be elevated. It is also being considered whether the discharge should be rechanneled so that it will have a longer route to travel to the pond, so that there can be more settlement of the particles. Bosai is also looking at creating a network of dams or dikes, so that the flow of the settlement can be constricted. Bethune is hoping that this situation is remedied earliest since there is presently not enough wash ore to go to the kiln for further processing. The company is only operating one kiln since the cease order and is relying on stock-pile in the plant itself, which he averaged; will only last two weeks the most.

While the EPA Linden branch has participated in the investigation, the municipality’s environmental department at the Linden Mayor and Town Council was not aware of the problem. Environmental Officer, Miss Annetta Humphrey, related that the department is limited as a result of resources and is trying its best to keep from individuals to companies, compliant with environmental laws and regulations. In addition to Bosai’s pollution, she related that the department would have received several complaints of persons and business owners polluting the creek, which is a main water source in the Kara Kara community. Persons would dispose garbage, wash items such as fish and even their vehicles with mechanical problems in the creek. Humphrey said that the Department is not omni-present and cannot monitor every situation but with what it has, does the best it could. For the cases they would have become cognisant of, they would have dealt with same and have even served notices, etc. to those found culpable.

Residents of Kara Kara have also expressed their disappointment in the way the creek has been subject to pollution in recent years. “The creek is our life here, it breathes life into this community, all the way up to Speightland, it is used for transportation, domestic purposes, people fish here every day and people coming here and do all sorts of things,” resident George Lorrimor said. Recently as well, the creek has been deemed one of Linden’s tourism gems and has been utilised for water sporting activities by tourism based companies.

Vice Chairman of the Environmental Committee, Councillor Yanick Graham, said that while it is unfortunate that creek was polluted as a result of the discharge, he is happy that Bosai has been compliant with the EPA and is hoping that the situation is remedied earliest so that the water body will not be further polluted. He is also calling on all companies operating in the municipality to carefully inspect their operations to ensure they are not culpable in any way, in polluting the environment, especially those dealing with the discharge of waste material. Graham said that the committee, in collaboration with the Environmental Department, will be more proactive in monitoring companies and their operations.