Millions of litres of highly acidic mine water is rising up under Johannesburg and, if left unchecked, could spill out into its streets some 18 months from now, Parliament's water affairs portfolio committee heard on Wednesday.
Extract from: Mail & Gardian O-line JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA Jul 21 2010 18:23
The acid water is currently about 600m below the city's surface, but is rising at a rate of between 0.6 and 0,9m a day, water affairs deputy director water quality management Marius Keet told MPs
"[It] can have catastrophic consequences for the Johannesburg central business district if not stopped in time. A new pumping station and upgrades to the high-density sludge treatment works are urgently required to stop disaster," he warned.
Speaking at the briefing, activist Mariette Liefferink, from the Federation for a Sustainable Environment, said the rising mine water posed an "enormous threat", which would become worse if remedial actions were further delayed.
"This environmental problem is second [in South Africa] only to global warming in terms of its impact, and poses a serious risk to the Witwatersrand as a whole. At the rate it is rising, the basin [under Johannesburg] will be fully flooded in about 18 months"
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