There should be an investigation into the health consequences of the bauxite dust emissions in Linden
By STABROEK STAFF | LETTERS | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2011

Dear Editor,

I sat at home and observed for three-four days, as I have done from time to time over the years, a coloured misty-like mixture of dust and smoke being discharged into the atmosphere from a towering metal chimney changing colour from pink-brown to gold-brown to peachlike to rust-brown. And how ironic it is to see this hazardous matter creating such beautiful artistic formations against a backdrop of white-grey blue sky. I sat and watched as it climbed into the sky, blended and drifted across the Linden community, taking up residence in homes as an uninvited guest.

This disgusting agent has long been the ‘Dennis the Menace‘ of residents, destroying their homes, window curtains, chair sets and furniture, and many other items. Most importantly, it is a health hazard, and has from the inception been part and parcel of a kind of unwritten agreement for employment and economic development. Oscar Wallerson, a former bauxite worker and poet wrote over 30 years ago in his poem ‘Dust‘: “Dust dust and yet more dust, provider for thousands, dancing an undying dance… Yet I always pray let there be dust and forever dust or who will provide for the thousands?”

But surely we have come a long way since then; the world has entered a new zone where industries are compelled to address the question of pollutants, irritants and any suspected toxic matter. They cannot be overlooked any longer, but must be treated as a number one priority, thus ensuring the safety and longevity of man and his environment, I doubt if there is anyone brazen enough to contest the harmful effect of the dust nuisance that folks in this mining community have endured for decades. It has indeed done its fair share of damage, and I dare say beyond our imagination. In 2008 Linden IMC chairman Orin Gordon noted that no serious investigation has ever been carried out to determine the health implications of several years of dust emissions on the population, and demanded the setting up of “appropriate laboratory and medical facilities in Linden to pursue investigation into the impact of dust emission on the community.” This proposal should be endorsed by all Lindeners with a renewed voice. One has got to listen to residents speak to get an insight into some of the problems and illnesses brought about as a result of years of inhaling bauxite dust. One man complained of a doctor examining him and advising him to stop smoking, when he had never in his life held a cigarette!

But it is the Environmental Protection Agency in whose arms this matter falls and who must take the fall for dereliction of duty and for the existing dust hazard. Stabroek Business of March 11, 2011 in an article ‘EPA should have long read riot act to Bosai over dust collector‘ stated: “Failure by the Chinese bauxite company to install a dust collector at its Linden plant despite repeated promises to do so has to be attributed in part to the failure of the EPA to hold the company to its word.“ It further stated: “Bosai itself has made several promises and given several deadlines for starting and completing the installation of the dust extractor.” The two deadlines for the installation of the dust collector were given as September, 2009, then April 2010; this year (2011) they have promised that by September it should be in place. The article also pointed out that the EPA executive director in a signed letter said: “If the company fails to comply with the recommendations and requirements of the agency penalties could be instituted…” Well, we have only to wait and see. When ‘Gandhi‘ – a resident – referred to the community as the “dusty town” he was dead accurate; dust particles settle everywhere – in every nook and cranny, covering our skin; Linden folks eat, sleep and breathe dust. Granted that the dust situation predates Bosai, the time has come for it to be addressed.

When a thorough and in-depth investigation is finally done I contend that there will be some alarming revelations about the effect of this bauxite dust emission over the decades. There was once a saying, more dust more employment. At that time the company employed over 5,000 workers. This is not so any more; now we have the reverse – more dust with less than 400 workers!

Yours faithfully
Frank Fyffe

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Bauxite dust collectors likely operational by Feb – Bosai
By STABROEK STAFF | LOCAL | TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2011

A team of experts is expected in Guyana soon to commence building two dust collecting units at the Bosai Minerals Group Guyana Incorporated (BMGGI), which are expected to be operational by February 2012. During a tour of the facility last Friday, Senior Personnel Officer Vance Reid pleaded for the continued patience of Lindeners who have been very tolerant over the years. “We will try our best to give some information as to where we are via the media. The dust collection system will be in place, this is not an idle promise, it is a fact,” Reid said. According to Reid, a team of 17 engineers and technical personnel from China will arrive in Guyana on September 12 to commence the installation of the two dust collection systems in Kiln 14 and Kiln 13.


IMC Chairman Orin Gordon (left) takes a look at the foundation for the dust collection unit for kiln 13 on Friday last.

Interim Management Committee Chairman Orin Gordon who was also on the tour, said the company has been constantly keeping the council informed and he has made several visits to the site to check on the progress. The issue of having the dust emission arrested has a long history. Cambior took over the bauxite operations in Linden in 2005 and had tabled plans to have two dust collecting units installed by 2007. However, the company encountered a drastic decline in bauxite markets. “The cost to do that project was considerately high in comparison to the sale of bauxite at the time,” a source who was integrally involved in the process said. Cambior did however, do the engineering for the project.

The bauxite operations at Linden were taken over by Bosai in April 2007 and this company abandoned the engineering work which was done by Cambior and did its own, utilizing its own expertise. Several deadlines were set for the commencement and completion of the dust collection units, the first being in 2009. Bosai was having the design and construction work done overseas and the installation was estimated to be completed in one year but this took much longer than estimated. A press release from Bosai yesterday in response to an article which appeared in the Kaieteur News, Saturday August 27, 2011, captioned, ‘Bauxite Plant Dust Pollution affecting Lindeners’, said that once the kilns are producing, bauxite dust would be expelled from the stacks in the bauxite plant.

“The EPA is also closely monitoring the project and is frequently updated on the progress by the BMGGI Environmental Department. Bosai also has a television programme… to inform the general populace of each phase of the construction of the dust collector system. In addition, quarterly medical outreach programmes are held at different health centres in Linden and are well attended by the residents,” the release said. Bosai said it remained a committed corporate citizen. “Although we understand the frustration of the Lindeners with the dust situation for over four decades, we ask for their patience since the promise of the installation of the dust collector system would materialize in the very near future,” it stated.

The company had attempted to bring some relief to the community by providing air conditioning and other appliances to the New Silvercity Secondary School which in most instances feels the brunt of the effect of the dust.

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Linden bauxite dust problem worsens - residents dub new relief deadline ‘empty promise’
By CATHY RICHARDS | LOCAL | THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2011

Residents of Linden are expressing no-confidence in the management of bauxite company BOSAI fulfilling their recent commitment to have two dust collecting units operational by February 2012, saying that they have for many years been living on empty promises. Their claim was valid, according to Regional Chairman Mortimer Mingo who blames the slothfulness of the Chinese company on the deafening silence by key stakeholders, particularly the Environmental Protection Agency. “All we have been getting is empty promises and this has been happening for generations over,” a Linden businessman said.


Mortimer Mingo

His point of view has been echoed by several other residents in the Linden community, many of them claiming to have experienced respiratory ailments owing to bauxite dust pollution. “It’s a sad thing for us here in Linden,” said another resident. The woman said that for years she has been experiencing respiratory complications and it was after traveling overseas it was revealed that the root cause of her problem was the dust which has “formed a blanket on her lungs.” “They (the overseas doctors) asked me if I use to inhale any powdery substance because of what they see. I never use no drugs or nothing, not even smoke,” she explained.

The bauxite company had introduced a medical clinic which, according to residents, couldn’t suffice for the sicknesses already suffered. Besides the health complications, residents complained bitterly about the destruction of household appliances and furnishings.

Like dew falling

“Some morning when you wake up you would think it’s dew falling but it’s dust in yuh face,” said a distraught resident of Silvertown. Silvertown is one of the communities closest to the bauxite plant from the Wismar end. The far reaches of Wis-roc Housing Scheme, Blue Berry Hill, and Block 22 are all affected in a noticeable way. And not a single resident there spoken to by Stabroek News expressed any optimism that the dust collector system was going to come to fruition in February of 2012. They said that they are confident that the pattern of delay and making excuses will continue. “Deh gon put up something but I am sure that not for next year February because of their own trends of doing things.”

Residents of West Watooka, Canvas City, Half Mile and other areas say that living with the dust nuisance has become a part of their daily lives. “We get so accustom to it that a lot a changes going to go on with we when or if they ever do put in the dust collectors,” said a housewife of Canvas City. She said that most persons have developed a pattern of washing their internal walls and windows and curtains on a regular basis, fortnightly or monthly.

Bronchial

Bronchial problems are common among residents, especially children and the elderly in the community. “Most people who does be at home like dem lil children and old people always got to be running to deh hospital with asthma attack or some lung problem.” Recently the dust emitted from kilns 13 and 14 has increased substantially, according to residents of Mackenzie, especially Amelia’s Ward, a community which previously had suffered to a lesser extent. Residents there said that in the past they were affected but not to the extent that it is at present. Some persons are of the opinion that this is a result of the increased production by the company while others attributed this to the change in wind direction.

Regional Chairman Mingo subscribed to the view that there has been a noticeable increase in dust being emitted from kilns 13 and 14 which has occasioned some anxiety among the people of Linden. In an interview with Stabroek News Mingo expressed the concern of residents about the company meeting its deadlines. He said also he recalled that at the first meeting BOSAI had committed to having the dust collectors completed in December 2009, then April of 2010, then September 2010, and then it was September 2011. “We invited Bosai to a meeting and they gave a firm commitment that this thing would have definitely been completed in September 2011.”

Last Thursday Mingo and a number of concerned citizens attended a meeting with the management of BOSAI at the bauxite plant at Mackenzie, where Member of Parliament Aubrey Norton was also present. At that meeting BOSAI assured that the project will be completed no later than February 2012. According to Mingo the main problem with accepting what BOSAI says is that they are not keeping residents abreast of their efforts to implement the plan to install the dust collectors.

Keep moving

“The fact that the timelines keep moving all the while, obviously people wouldn’t have much confidence in accepting those timelines.” According to reliable sources, a group of residents had indicated to the bauxite company that they intended to stage a picketing demonstration that was likely to attract the support of a large number of residents. Meanwhile, there has been some level of public relations activity by the company via the local television channel although some key information was missing, especially relating to the previously set deadlines. “If they are moving from the timelines they must be able to say to the people in a very convincing way the reasons for the moving of those timelines,” stated Mingo.

The issue of the dust collector has been engaging the Regional Democratic Council for well over four years with constant representation to key players including BOSAI, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Office of the Prime Minister and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC). At a stakeholders’ meeting some three years ago, Mingo said, the concerns were addressed and assurances were given by BOSAI that every effort would have been made to arrest or reduce the emission of dust in the community.

He said that a commitment was made and kept to arrest the dust emitted from kiln 10. “The kiln that used to produce the dry ore had a high level of dust emission and they did as promised and that problem does not exist anymore and that was after we waited for a few mornings and we wrote and they did what they had to do to address that situation,” said Mingo. He said that the community is concerned also that there has been a deafening silence by key stakeholders from an information standpoint. “I am concerned they (EPA) have been silent as it relates to what is taking place in our environment and if we had the commitment and a strong approach from all the stakeholders, we would have seen much more movement than that.”

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Bauxite dust disgrace
By STABROEK STAFF | EDITORIAL | MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2011

It is disgraceful that Lindeners continue to be showered on a daily basis with dust from the operations of Chinese miner, Bosai. It is disgraceful that there has not yet been an authoritative medical study of the ill-effects or otherwise of the dust that has besieged Lindeners for decades. It is beyond disgraceful that a government whose Prime Minister is responsible for mining, was a former long-serving employee of the bauxite industry and hails from Linden has not been able to settle this scourge in 19 years. It is disgraceful that the PNC which has drawn major support from this area for decades and presided in government for 28 years has been unable to inspire lasting change in this situation. It is disgraceful that the Environmental Protection Agency and other regulatory bodies have failed to take action against the errant miner.

Lindeners must also take their fair share of responsibility for this. What lasting and definitive steps have they taken to force this issue and what have their representatives at the level of the regional and municipal bodies been doing? As recounted in the SN report of September 8, 2011, Lindeners have been fed a dusty diet of broken promises by companies that have operated the kilns in the area – the latest being Bosai. As one resident put it, “All we have been getting is empty promises and this has been happening for generations over”.

Bosai first promised the dust collectors in December 2009, then April 2010, then September 2010 and then September 2011. Residents are now being told that two dust collecting units will be operational in February next year. Bosai hastily organized a tour of preliminary works last week to forestall a planned protest. No bets are likely to be taken on the February 2012 promise but one would expect that the Regional Democratic Council and the new government that will be in place by then will make every effort to ensure that this deadline is met, failing which sanctions should be applied against Bosai by the EPA if that body can stir itself into action.

It is all the more important as Bosai seems to have aggressively ramped up production with the bauxite market trending in a favourable direction. It is also vital that these environmental commitments are kept as Bosai originates from a regulatory environment that has been permissive and indulgent of horrific polluters. It may well feel right at home. As is usually the case in environmental dangers of this type, children and the vulnerable face the greatest risk. Silvertown students are seriously affected along with others and the school has had to have air-conditioners installed to help cope with the problem of dust flooding into the building.

Until the dust collectors are in place, Bosai must take effective measures to limit the extrusion of particles from its operations including the adjustment of production schedules. Quarterly medical outreaches to address problems complained of are not enough. The company should have a standing medical clinic available to residents in the area affected by the dust.

There is no doubt that years of inhalation of the bauxite dust can lead to a range of respiratory ailments and worse particularly for people who are sensitive to these conditions. Since the state was once the actual operator of these mines it has a special responsibility to document the sufferings and experiences of workers and residents of the community who have been afflicted for many years. Such documentation should lead to a comprehensive study on the human and financial cost to the community and result in specialized care for those who might have longstanding conditions as a result of the dust.

The absence of the dust collectors so many years after bauxite production began in Linden and elsewhere defines the disregard of the industry and the government for the well-being of the people.

Source

I already suffered from respiratory problems before I was 10. We lived under the dust cloud and school was also under it.