BY RONAN McSHERRY
PUBLIC representatives and local campaigners opposed to goldmining operations have reacted with horror to a pollution incident at the Creevan Burn close to Omagh.
The incident was caused by leakage from one of the settlement tanks at the Cavancaw Gold Mine. A sample of a clearly visible milky discharge from the stream was reported to the local council's environmental health department. The department was subsequently informed that the failure of a pump at the mine site had caused the overflow and it was assured that the matter had been rectified.
Cllr Pat McDonnell said this incident vindicates those who opposed to the mining work being carried out in the first place.
"This open-cast goldmining operation at Cavanacaw was granted planning permission in the face of very strong local opposition in 1995. The DOE at the time chose to over-rule the well-researched objections of lobby groups such as Omagh Gold Mining Action Group and Omagh People Against Gold Mining," said Cllr McDonnell. "Open-cast goldmining has a dreadful reputation worldwide and the incident reported to me merely confirms the fears expressed at the time by the above objectors.
"This incident confirms the good sense of the objectors in the early 1990s. These materials are simply too dangerous to leave at the mercy of human error. A clean environment contributing to a vibrant tourism industry would be of far more value to our area than this gold mine."
These sentiments were echoed by Ed Winters, a leading campaigner against the goldmining companies when they arrived in the area.
"This is the line we had going right back even as far as 1985," said Mr Winters. "This is not just a localised effect. Unfortunately it (pollution) can spread like cancer and affect a wide area and, in doing so, have devastating consequences for the fish, flower life and fauna.
"This will only be one of many pollution incidents. Wait until they start grinding down the ore to dust; it will blow all over the countryside into Omagh. There is such a lack of protection and policing of that place, eou wonder do the environmental services have a clue what is going on. I suspect they don't."
Mr Winters added, "I am not surprised at this development. It is an early warning. These people got government backing and need to be held to account."
A statement from the Environment and Heritage Service (EHS) confirmed the discharge came from the Cavanacaw Gold Mine.
"It was explained that the pollution incident arose as a result of a pump failure. The company have a system in place where they pump surface water from the mining area to a settlement pond before discharge to the Creevan Burn. The pump they normally use broke and a replacement pump was sourced with four times the flow of the original pump. Because of the increased flow, the water did not have the adequate settlement time in the pond so was discharging cloudy."
The statement continued, "As soon as they were aware of the problem, they stopped the pump and took appropriate measures to minimize the effect of the pollution. EHS were informed that the use of the pond was to be discontinued the following week because they were finished with that portion of the site. There have been no reports of pollution from the site since and the discharge point is part of a regular monitoring programme."
Attempts by the UlsterHerald to contact the Galantas Gold Corporation at Omagh and Toronto telephone numbers listed on its website were unsuccessful up to the time of going to press.
