Mining EPA warns manganese company over delinquent monitoring of collapsed reservoir:

Having found that there was no proper monitoring system in place at the breached reservoir owned by Guyana Manganese Inc. (GMI) in Matthews Ridge, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has warned that the deficiency must be addressed, Executive Director Kemraj Parsram said ;ast Tuesday. On September 14th, a section of the reservoir belonging to Chinese-owned GMI collapsed, releasing a torrent of water that washed away a section of the road which connects Matthews Ridge to Port Kaituma and flooded surrounding areas. Region One Chairman Brentnol Ashley said that a compromised drainage system is suspected to be the primary cause of the collapse. Ashley said that from all indications the company did not change drainage pipes that were laid years ago. The integrity of the pipes, he said, is believed to have been compromised by the volume of water in the reservoir. This statement was echoed by Parsram, who explained that the reservoir was the Company’s source of fresh water used during mining operations. Initially a lake, GMI built a structure around it so that rain water can be captured and stored. GMI pumps the water using pipes to their mining pit located some distance away from the reservoir. The Director disclosed that assessments done by the Agency found that water exceeded the capacity of the structure, resulting in part of the reservoir collapsing. He said they also found that here was no proper monitoring system in place. He noted that process water goes into a tailings pond which is separate from the reservoir, hence it is believed that the reservoir contains nothing but pure fresh water. However, Parsram said when the team visited the area, they collected samples of the water to test if it was contaminated.