It's February the 18th. An environmental
disaster on an historic scale has begun.
At a copper mine in Zambia, owned by the
Chinese company Sino Metals, a dam
holding back a reservoir of toxic waste
has collapsed. What some experts claim
is one of the worst and least reported
mining accidents ever has been
unleashed. Matched, they say, by one of
the worst government and industry
coverups.
It is spewing lethal chemical poison.
Arsenic, cyanide, uranium, lead,
mercury, and more. Soon, slicks of dead
fish line the river shore. Nearly 2/3 of
Zambia's 20 million people live along
the vast Kafoui River system. It is an
environmental disaster
really of uh catastrophic
consequence when we consider the fact
that
Sino metros has polluted a river on
which millions of people depend for
their livelihoods.
We're also talking about wildlife.
If we look at the communities in the
immediate vicinity of the river, the
entire livelihoods have been destroyed.
>> A helicopter drops lime into the river
to try and neutralize the acidity from
the spill. The damn waste was so acidic
it could dissolve human bones.
And after the dead fish, the dead and
dying crops. Week after week of damaging
delay went by from the air. The scale of
the damage is clear. The scarred
polluted landscape of the now empty
reservoir. The government did order Sina
metals to pay for an independent survey
to assess the damage. That survey
appears to have been buried by the
government and the mine. But Channel 4
News has obtained a copy exclusively.
Tonight we can reveal this 385page
report compiled by South African
environmental assessors who sampled
hundreds of sites in the vast toxic
slurry. The river supplies drinking
water to about 5 million people
including the capital Lusaka.
So weeks of painstaking research,
thousands of samples taken. And you'd
think, wouldn't you, that the emergence
of this report would trigger, even at
this late stage, the kind of large-scale
cleanup that was required. In fact,
nothing like that happened at all. The
environmental assessors say it would
need at least 100 trucks a day for over
a year to begin clearing away the
contamination. Watching all this, the
environmental assessors appear to have
lost patience. In early June, they wrote
this letter to the government begging
them to take action. The language they
use could hardly be more stark. Their
letter says that official reports
stating that 50,000 tons were released
is grossly inaccurate, and that their
estimate is 30 times that, over 1.5
million tons. That's not all. They write
that extremely hazardous substances were
released including arsenic, cyanide,
uranium and other heavy metals which has
created a toxic environment capable of
causing irreversible harm to both the
ecosystem and human health. Communities
are at serious risk of developing birth
defects, cancers, liver and lung
disease, heart conditions, and other
chronic illnesses.
Without immediate intervention, the
consequences for future generations of
Zambians will be severe and long
lasting.
By now, others had had enough. The US
embassy broke cover on June the 12th,
issuing this notice, telling its
nationals to evacuate urgently from the
polluted region.
That produced no major action from the
authorities. So the Americans put out
another warning in August, now saying
even breathing the air in the pollution
zone could be dangerous. That did it.
The very next day, the government called
a press conference. Surely they were
about to take action. Quite the
opposite.
>> Laboratory results show that the pH
levels have returned to normal and
concentrations of heavy metals are
steadily decreasing.
which means that the immediate danger to
human, animal, and plant life has been
averted as we speak today.
>> But the minister wasn't done yet. His
clear message, nothing to see here.
>> All serious implications on public
health, water safety,
agriculture, and environment and the
environment have been brought under
control.
There is therefore
no cause
for alarm.
>> Meanwhile, the mine is putting out PR
videos claiming the water's safe to
drink.
Far from cleaning up for local people,
they're buying up local people. More PR
images of food handouts and around £800
compensation for affected families.
Some unable to read or write sign with a
thumbrint. The Chinese management say
they're in it for the long haul. On
behalf of Asino Meadows, this community
is our partner. Our commitment will
continue beyond today. But there's a
catch. Anyone accepting the compensation
payment is forced to sign a gagging
deal, preventing them from ever taking
legal action against the mine.
We asked the mining company, Sino
Metals, for an interview. They declined,
but sent a statement. The allegations
made against Sino Metals lack factual
and legal basis. Sino Metals refutes
these allegations in their entirety.
The Zambian government declined to be
interviewed and did not respond to any
of the points raised in this report.
Even as we compiled this report,
USChinese tensions spilled over. America
accusing China directly of a cover up,
noting
>> Sino Metals poisoning of the Kafoui
River and its efforts to avoid
responsibility demonstrate the contempt
state-owned Chinese companies have for
the lives of the Zambian people.
This environmental catastrophe is the
latest example of their callous
indifference towards the African people.
We remain concerned that the Chinese
government-owned mine has sought to
cover up the scope and severity of this
catastrophe.
The Zambian government is now
restructuring its $5.6 billion debt with
China. So Zambia trying to make China
clear up the mess it's made is difficult
timing.
Leaving those in the polluted zone
getting by as best they can. And they
know only too well that the rains are
coming in a few weeks. Scientists
predict they'll flush the poisons
further down the river system with no
major cleanup anywhere in sight at