Last week a report was released regarding the dumping of industrial waste from the Tolokuma Mine. The Study was done by a PNGean medical doctor undergoing pathology specialist training in Australia - Dr Kotapu.
I know Dr Kotapu and I can testify that he is a very interlligent person and this study's results are not to be discredited. He was working at PMGH before going to Australia for specialist training.
This week Dr Alan Marat has called on the Dept. of Environment and Conservation to come out publicly and tell the people of PNG what really is going on because it seems the Dept. Env. Cons. knew all along of the waste dumping and have been withholding the information!!
Does that amount to criminal conduct?
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Re: Tolokuma Mine Dumping Waster Into Water Systems
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March 23 2007, 1:06 PM
I recently read an article from PNGindustry news and I qoute "Emperor general manager of PNG operations Brad Sampson said the company was "surprised" and "concerned" over the media reports and "disappointed" over the way it has been handled, he further stated that they have done regular, systematic and routine test to ensure the mine met environmental requirements...however there is a twist, he replied that presence of many illegal miners introduce mercury into the river system on a regular basis. My point is if they Emperor mine found that out, they are to be held accountable for withhold vital information. Apparently, Emperors first response was who Dr Sylvester Kotapu is.
This message has been edited by vortexPNG on Mar 23, 2007 1:07 PM
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According to reports in the media, the so-called big shots in the Env. Conservation dept are tight lipped about it. I was expecting to see a press release in the papers this week but nothing has come out yet.
This can only mean one thing, they are very much at fault and are in the process of trying to come up with a very complicated explanation to make themselves look good.
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The general response of multinational companies that are implicated in such issues as this will to be to go into "damage control" mode.
Firstly, they will aim to discredit the study - the validity of the results, the researchers` reputation (sometimes refered to as character assination) and come up with alternate reasons to explain the high blood levels of toxic metals. And obviously, Tolokuma Mines is say, "its not our fault. Its their own fault. They come here and mine illegally and dump their wastes like mecury and cyanide into the river system and are poisoning themselves. We are innocent".
We should not be fooled. My question therefore is, if there has been illegal mining and dumping of toxic wastes into the rivers as Tolokuma Mines claim, then Can Tolokuma Mines give the estimated number of people doing this illegal activity and for how long? Can the amount the toxic metals like cyanide and mecury used by illegal miners be enough to reach the blood levels as determined by Dr Kotapu and team?
I think the next step will be to test the levels of the toxic metals in the river systems, sampling from the main rivers to their tributeries and see where they lead to.
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By HARLYNE JOKU
HEALTH Minister Sir Peter Barter has written a letter to Health Secretary Dr Nicholas Mann demanding action on the contamination of the Auga and Angabanga Rivers in the Central province.
According to two recent studies conducted by Dr Sylvester Kotapu and Tingay Pty Ltd and commissioned by Oxfam Australia, the pollution is related to the operations of the multi-billion kina Tolukuma Gold Mine in the Central province, 100km north of Port Moresby.
Sir Peter said the Catholic mission first raised the issue with him 12 months ago when they presented him the report.
The study was commissioned after numerous cases of mysterious illnesses and deaths related to river pollution were reported.
Sir Peter said he had then directed Dr Mann to commission an investigation into the issue, but had yet to receive a report from his department.
“I am very concerned about the issue. Just yesterday (last Thursday), I wrote another letter to Dr Mann demanding action,” Sir Peter said from Cairns last Friday.
He commenting in relation to findings of Dr Kotapu’s study on high levels of toxic heavy metals found in blood samples of villagers living along the Auga and Angabanga Rivers.
It is understood that Sir Peter is unhappy with the officers in his department for not taking immediate action since his first direction.
Meanwhile, the Tolukuma Gold Mine issued a statement last Friday rejecting that it was involved in the pollution of the two rivers and was investigating the allegations made by Dr Kotapu and his credentials.
The mine management has not seen a full report of the study conducted by Dr Kotapu revealing high toxic heavy metals of people living in the vicinity of the rivers.
The management said in a statement released by Emperor Mines Limited, the owner and operator of Tolukuma Gold Mine, that excerpts of Dr Kotapu’s report showed ‘a number of falsehood, factual errors and illogical deductions’.
“This appears to be fraud on the Mekeo and Goilala peoples of Central province, on the workers of the mine and on the people of Papua New Guinea. If the Governor has truly paid this fellow K200,000 for his work as reported, then he has wasted provincial government money, the work has no credibility at all,” Emperor Mines general manger for PNG operations Brad Sampson said.
Dr Kotapu presented a power point presentation of his study two weeks ago to the Central provincial government who had commissioned his study.
Commenting on the statement by Emperor Mines, Dr Kotapu said: “It does not bother me that they are questioning my credibility.
“It does not surprise me.
“My resume speaks for itself. They are welcome to have it.”
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Tolokuma Mine seeks to discredit Dr Kotapu's report!
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March 28 2007, 10:32 AM
In one of my previous posting, I mentioned that once the report by Dr Kotapu is out, Tolukuma Mine will go into damage control. And one of the first thing they will do is discredit Dr Kotapu through the media - a term commonly refered to as "characater assasination". This is a well known tactic world wide.
Because once they discredit the author and put doubts into the mind of the public, the results and impact of the study will be somewhat watered down. People of PNG. Do not be fooled by these profit hungry people who care nothing about the health and lives of our people.
Read below - from today's National to see them doing what I am describing.
TOLUKUMA gold mine yesterday dismissed claims allegedly contained in a report regarding riverine tailings disposal prepared by Dr Sylvester Kotapu for the Central provincial government.
The mine is investigating the allegations and the credentials of Mr Kotapu.
The mine management said excerpts of a presentation given by Mr Kotapu that was provided to the media showed a number of falsehoods, factual errors and illogical deductions.
They stated that blood test data provided by Mr Kotapu to “prove” his claims was not taken from village communities as he claimed and nor did it show evidence of anything other than perfectly normal ranges of chemical traces within human blood.
Emperor Mines Limited, the owner and operator of the Tolukuma mine, had previously expressed surprise and concern about the media reports, and confirmed yesterday that they had spoken with Governor Alphonse Moroi about this issue, and had informed him of the results of their own investigations.
“This appears to be a con on the Mekeo and Goilala people of Central province, on the workers at the mine and on the people of Papua New Guinea,” Emperor’s general manager of PNG operations Brad Sampson said.
He said Mr Kotapu seemed to be deliberately creating a scandal, either for his own benefit, or on behalf of someone else.
“I also remain concerned about Mr Kotapu’s own credentials. He has claimed to be a senior pathology registrar working at two Australian hospitals.
“But both hospitals have refuted his claims.”
Mr Kotapu also claimed that he was registered with the PNG Medical Board, however, on further investigation, the chairman of the Board, Prof Mathias Sapuri, had confirmed that Mr Kotapu was not registered with the Board, Mr Sampson said.
“We continue to work with the National Government, Australian and PNG based NGOs and our community on the real riverine issues.
“I have invited the Mr Moroi to participate in this process. We welcome all scientific contributions towards furthering our knowledge and understanding of riverine and related community issues,” he said.
Re: Tolokuma Mine seeks to discredit Dr Kotapu's report!
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March 28 2007, 9:10 PM
Dr Who, thats is very true what we are witnessing today. Its a too familiar, I hope we can sway government heavies to support...with that kind of money handling in mining and oil industries, its david and goliath status of battle.
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Just to follow the thread of this discussion I am cutting & pasting this from the National, 30th March, 2007.
See how Tolokuma Mine is taking the focus away from the issue of environmental damage and putting the lives of people at risk to focusing on Dr Kotapu's creditials!
Thats what they want. And looks like they are succeeding. Because now the public will be talking about whether Dr Kotapu is qualified or not, rather then talking about the damage that Tolokuma Mines is doing.
Because I think the way, Tolokuma Mine is going, if they can establish that Dr Kotapu is not a registered medical officer with PNG Medical Board then they can claim that the study and thus the results are not to be relied upon.
But Dr Kotapu has been working in Australia all these time and there was no need to register with PNG Medical Board. He was registered with the Australian Medical Council!!
Tolokuma Mines has put a complaint to the PNG Medical Board regarding Dr Kotapu. I wonder what the complaint is for?? Not being registered?? The legality of whether Dr Kotapu is registered or not DOES NOT ALTER THE RESULTS OF THE STUDY!! That is the bottom line and we must not loose sight of it. If we do, then we will be dancing to the beat of the music being played by Tolokuma Mines.
________________________________________________________
Kotapu hits back at media
DR SYLVESTER Kotapu, whose credibility was questioned by the Emperor Mines, has hit back at the media saying that he will prove his credentials to any authorised body.
Dr Kotapu’s credibility was questioned by Emperor Mines after exposing a study revealing high levels of toxic heavy metals in blood samples of people living along the Auga and Angabanga Rivers of the Central province.
“I will prove my credentials to any authorised body. I am not answerable to the media,” Dr Kotapu told The National yesterday.
Dr Kotapu has provided his CV, which showed his employment history as senior registrar haematalogy at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney, Australia, and a registrar at the Royal College of pathologists of Australasia.
He told The National he had records of his registration.
Dr Kotapu was served a letter by Dr Marthias Sapuri, the head of the PNG Medical Board yesterday, requesting that he meets with them and present his papers to the board.
“I will not respond to his letter, not until he (Dr Sapuri) retracts his statement with Emperor Mines that I am not registered on the PNG Medical Board,” Dr Kotapu said.
Dr Sapuri announced on Tuesday that Emperor Mines had laid a complaint against Dr Kotapu on his findings.
Meanwhile, the Governor of Central Alphonse Moroi said: “People are mysteriously dying – that is the issue – let’s not fight over the credibility of Dr Kotapu.”
Mr Moroi said Dr Kotapu was a respected doctor who was contracted by the Central provincial government.
By HARLYNE JOKU
A FORMER acting environment supervisor of Tolukuma gold mine and marine biologist Alois Wafi has come out publicly confirming that toxic heavy metals exist in the marine life and food chain of the Auga and Angabanga areas in the Central province.
The contamination report is backed by studies he conducted in 2003.
Mr Wafi said the report was commissioned by the then Tolukuma gold mine operator Durban Rooderpoorte Deepe (DRD) who presented the report to the Department of Environment and Conservation titled Tolukuma Gold Mine’s 2004 Annual Environment Report.
He said the Department of Environment and Conservation was aware of the report.
DY environmental consultants conducted geo-chemical studies while Hydrobiology Pty Ltd Australia conducted aquatic biological surveys in 2005.
Mr Wafi showed a copy of the report to The National this week. According to the report, research and sampling was conducted in the Auga and Angabanga Rivers and along the coast of Abia-Oreke.
The report reveals that the food chain in the river system is contaminated by heavy metals from the slurry tailings and mine waste dumped by the multi-billion kina Tolukuma gold mine.
The report stated that according to international food standards of Australia and New Zealand (ANZFA) the metal concentrations found
in the marine foods in Angabanga was questionable.
Mr Wafi himself was involved in water sampling of Tolukuma gold mine past the compliance point 7km downstream.
Mr Wafi confirmed the metals were ‘signature metals’ of Tolukuma gold mine.
Mr Wafi said the impact would be experienced further along the coastal areas of Central and Gulf provinces.
This was because Tolukuma gold mine was a mere 90km from the coast, which made coastal environment exposed to heavy metal pollution, Mr Wafi said.
Mr Wafi supported Dr Sylvester Kotapu’s study which revealed high levels of toxic heavy metals in blood samples of sick and deformed people living along the Auga and Angabanga Rivers.
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For your information Emperor has of on the 27th March reportedly to be in discussions with Canadian gold giant Barrick gold and Harmony for sale of its PNG assest (porgera and tolokuma), I believe it’s a twist in the drama of things. If we speculate, there maybe ulterior motives and interest by movers and shakers of the study and the timing of the sale announcement, whether to impact on the share prices is just a speculations.
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I recieved this email from Oxfarm Australia which has the links to the studies they did in the Mekeo area and other villagers living near the affected river systems.
Whilst undertaking some searches on the report by Dr Kotapu, I came across the Yahoo groups discussion in which you participate (http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/pngdoctors-general). It seems that you and your colleagues in the group are concerned to know the impact of the Tolukuma mine on local communities.
Oxfam Australia commissioned scientific studies of water in the Auga-Angabanga river system and in village wells. We published the reports by Dr Alan Tingay of A & SR Tingay Pty Ltd Environmental Scientists last year and they are available at
http://www.oxfam.org.au/campaigns/mining/news/mekeo_water_report.pdf and
The scientific tests and analyses were commissioned by Oxfam Australia in response to requests by communities who had raised concerns about the social and environmental impacts of the Tolukuma Gold Mine.
Dr Tingay has been an environmental consultant for over 30 years. He has been responsible for the preparation of innumerable environmental impact assessments, environmental audits, environmental management plans and monitoring studies. Dr Tingay has worked with industry, government and corporate entities on a very diverse range of issues including industrial projects, mineral and gas processing, mining (gold, mineral sands, iron ore, vanadium, uranium), off-shore oil and gas, oil-spill contingency planning, port developments, road and rail transport corridors, assessment and remediation of contaminated industrial sites, waste management and disposal (municipal, industrial and hazardous wastes), management of emissions (atmospheric, liquid, solids, dust and noise), urban development, coastal planning, and reserve allocation and management.
Assessment of TGM reports
In addition to undertaking water quality tests, Dr Tingay assessed the results of Tolukuma Gold Mine’s own Environmental Reports for the years 1999 to 2003. These reports indicate that TGM has frequently exceeded compliance criteria for levels of arsenic, lead, mercury, ammonia and cyanide.
Water quality tests
The reports make several findings which are of significant concern, particularly that:
- the discharge of tailings from the Mine is causing ongoing pollution of the Auga-Angabanga River System by sediment and toxicants including arsenic and various metals. This pollution has probably caused major impacts on the ecology of the river system, including the obliteration of most aquatic life in the Auga River .
- pollution of the Auga-Angabanga River System has deprived people who live close to the rivers of a traditional source of drinking water and food, and has also impacted on lifestyle, culture and possibly health.
- water from some wells in the Mekeo villages of Inauauni, Amo Amo, Veifa’a and Aipeana contains arsenic at levels that are close to or higher than the WHO acceptable maximum level.
- water from the Angabanga River that is used for drinking and other purposes at Gnagaifua and Oriropetana contains lead at levels that are higher than the WHO acceptable maximum level. The river water at times also contains arsenic and mercury at levels higher than the WHO acceptable maximum level.
- affected wells and the river water are not suitable for the long-term supply of drinking water given the potential for adverse health impacts.
In collaboration with local NGO CERD in PNG, we presented these results to the Department of Mines, Department of Environment and Conservation and the Provincial Government in May 2006. Unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge there has not yet been any action taken on these issues at the government level.
If you would like to discuss this further, please do not hesitate to contact me.
regards
Shanta Martin
Mining Ombudsman
Extractive Industries Advocacy Coordinator
Oxfam Australia
156 George Street
Fitzroy VIC Australia 3065
Direct line: (61 3) 9289 9490
Fax: (61 3) 9419 5318
Web: www.oxfam.org.au
----------------------------------------------------------
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By HARLYNE JOKU
MEKEO chiefs expressed anger and disbelief when told that boiling water would not remove heavy metals or make it any safer for them to drink.
They were told this fact at meeting on Wednesday on the pollution of the Angabanga and Auga River system allegedly by the Tolukuma gold mine.
A concerned Council of Chiefs at Veifa’a village called the meeting, which drew 54 councillors.
One of the chiefs asked Dr Sylvester Kotapu whether boiling water could disperse arsenic, lead and mercury from water fetched from the well and river.
Dr Kotapu responded that although it was good practice to boil drinking water to rid bacteria and germs, heavy metals were non-degradable in cold and boiling water.
Some chiefs laughed in disbelief while others were angry, saying action should taken by the concerned authorities immediately.
They also asked Dr Kotapu the type of illnesses associated with heavy metals.
He told the chiefs that a slow intake of heavy metals that constantly build up in a period of time will be a health hazard that will last a long time.
He said exposure to the water, apart from drinking, including touching, washing and smelling would affect people.
He said infertility rates would be high, newborns IQ would be low and illnesses such as TB, malaria and pneumonia would be prolonged.
“We have a deposit of heavy metal chemicals that will accumulate over a period of years.
“It will affect every system in the body, the brain, the bone, skin, liver and heart of people that interact with the water,” Dr Kotapu said.
Dr Kotapu said the chiefs must be united and immediately demand for health tests to be conducted on their children and themselves and push for a change in mining legislation to allow the mine to operate with a tailings dam.
The chiefs are considering a protest march to petition the Government regarding the Angabanga River pollution and recent findings by Dr Kotapu.
They also called on Government authorities and the Tolukuma gold mine to provide an alternate clean water supply to the affected villages.
John Iniauma, a clan chief of Veifa’a, said chiefs of 22 Mekeo villages in the vicinity of the river were concerned about the pollution and had formed a Central Chiefs’ Association comprising chief executives from North, West and South Mekeo villages to take up the issue.
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AUSTRALIAN Junior Emperor Mines has officially rejected the findings of a study commissioned by Central Provincial Governor Alphonse Morai, describing the study's claims that the Tolukuma gold mine had polluted local waterways as false and illogical.
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All the MPs are doing election campaigns and have paused the issue thus far. From media statements, only Sir Peter has been aggressively pursueing the issue.
Any latest on the news?
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Sir Peter Barter has asked for K100 000 to be released for rainwater tanks for schools and health facilities for the areas affected by Tolokuma mines.
He also proposed that an independent study be done as soon as possible to confirm the findings by Dr. Sylvester Kotapu and that the bodies involved should co-operate because people's lives are at risk.
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hmmmm...centralised rainwater tanks for the villagers will be a great idea so that the village people can have access to clear water rather than continue using the contaminated water.
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Re: Tolokuma Mine Dumping Waster Into Water Systems
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May 31 2007, 3:17 PM
The Papua New Guinea Medical Board has also questioned Dr Kotapu's credentials, since he is not registered with the Board. The issue here is not about Dr Kotapu registering with the PNG Medical Board etc... It is about the river system contaminated by industrial wastes.
The Health Department (especially the PNG Medical Board) and its personnel should be proactive in validating or otherwise of the findings by Dr Kotapu.
The judicial system in PNG has now become such that the real issue becomes secondary to the technicality of the issue. As seen in Dr Kotapu's case, Emperor Mines, Dept Environment & Conservation and PNG Medical Board are now questioning the qualification and registration of Dr Kotapu and relating that to the credibility of his findings. NO-ONE is interested in the results of Dr. Kotapu's findings.
Please get your bloody stupid politics out of our laboratories.
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