By DANE LILLINGSTONE
THERE are fears that an abandoned silver mine in Texas could result in dangerous chemical spills into the Dumaresq River.
The company behind the silver mine in Texas went broke this year leaving behind four large storage ponds containing contaminated water. These ponds are currently still abandoned and there are fears that heavy rainfall could cause an overflow, sending the chemical-laced water into the Dumaresq River.
The company went broke in July leaving dozens of locals out of work but fears were raised after a site inspection found management issues surrounding storage of contaminated mine water and drainage deficiencies.
Councillor Vic Pennisi said he was not concerned any spill would affect water in the Southern Downs.
“It runs west. Correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t believe it would affect the Southern Downs. I also don’t think the river connects to our water sources,” he said.
The Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage Protection (EHP) confirmed that water storage ponds on the mine site contain cyanide and elevated levels of copper, iron, manganese, zinc and nickel.
The department was quick to respond to the reports.
“EHP is working towards ensuring the Texas Silver Mine onsite water storages have sufficient freeboard to contain rainfall runoff, particularly ahead of the wet season later this year,” a statement said.
“To reduce the risk of a spill, some pond water has been transferred to other onsite storage facilities with larger capacity.
“In coming weeks, the pumping system will be replaced with more robust infrastructure to manage the poor quality water onsite. The new pumping system will allow for larger volumes of poor quality water to be transferred across site.
“Other options for future management of the site are being explored and include the option of a private sale.”
Lock the Gate Alliance president Drew Hutton said the government should be doing more to prevent possible environmental disasters.
“This scenario has happened before and will happen again if governments don’t do more to save our environment and taxpayers from mining companies that go broke and their financial assurances do not cover rehabilitation costs,” he said.
“There are around 15,000 abandoned mines in Queensland; most of them are very small but some of them are causing major financial and environmental concerns.
“The clean-up bill from the Texas silver mine is estimated at almost $10 million while the government has a financial assurance of only about $2 million. This public liability is echoed state-wide as the State Government has financial assurances of only $5.3 billion to cover a potential cost for rehabilitation of all mines which is as much as $50 billion, according to experts.”
