Trevor Manuel - Dont panic over acid mine water.
Don't panic over acid mine water - Manuel
Cape Town - There is "no cause to panic" about the acid mine water rising up below parts of the Witwatersrand, Minister in the Presidency Trevor Manuel said on Tuesday.
Briefing journalists at Parliament following last week's Cabinet meeting, he said the executive had examined recommendations by a team of experts on how to deal with the threat of so-called acid mine drainage.
The report is to be made public on Thursday.
"As a government, we want to give all South Africans the assurance that this matter is receiving attention; that the science is exceptionally good on this matter; and, that there is actually no cause for panic about it. I want to repeat that: There is no cause for panic about it."
Speaking via video link from Pretoria, senior water affairs official Marius Keet reported on the levels of acid mine water in the three distinct geological basins that underlie the region.
Big challenge
He said that in the eastern basin - located roughly below the town of Nigel - there was currently no risk because the water was 700m below the surface. There were also no immediate problems with the central basin, directly below Johannesburg.
"In the central basin, there are currently no challenges because the water is just below 500m below the surface."
Keet said the big challenge was the western basin - below the Krugersdorp-Randfontein area - where acid mine water has been decanting since 2002.
"That is the first priority we will have to address," he said.
Manuel said work on dealing with the problem in the western basin would start "immediately".
Acting water affairs director-general Trevor Balzer told the briefing that in terms of the central basin - where water is reportedly rising at a rate of between 0.6m and 0.9m a day, depending on rainfall - it was essential to have pump stations operational by March 2012.
"We would need to make sure we have new pump stations operational by March 2012... this is very feasible.
"By [this date] we should have the pump stations established and be able to move water out of the basin," he said.
http://www.news24.com/SciTech/News/Dont-panic-over-acide-mine-water-Manuel-20110222
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