China Kills A River In Foreign Country With Acidic Waste Spill, Leaving Millions In Emergency

A massive acid leak from a Chinese-owned mine in Zambia contaminated the country’s most important waterway, threatening the livelihood and health of more than half the country’s population and forcing the Chinese company to apologize, according to reports.

A tailings dam — a large embankment dam that stores mining waste — owned by Sino-Metals Leach Zambia failed Feb. 18, spilling “acidic effluent with high heavy metal content” and leach residue from copper extraction into a tributary of the Kafue River, Zambia’s Minister of Water Development and Sanitation Collins Nzovu told the country’s Senate.

Some 50 million liters of the effluent — liquid waste or sewage — was spilled, the Associated Press reported Saturday, citing investigators from the Engineering Institution of Zambia. The country’s president, Hakainde Hichilema, reportedly called for expert assistance.

The tributary reached the acidity level of a concentrated acid, leading the authorities to shut down water supply to the surrounding areas, Nzovu said. They also shut down the mine, ordered immediate repairs to stem the spill, and began a mass education campaign against public consumption of the contaminated water and dead fish from the river, he added.

“Prior to the 18th of February this was a vibrant and alive river,” Sean Cornelius, who lives near the river, told the AP, adding that fish died and birds disappeared. “Now everything is dead, it’s like a totally dead river. Unbelievable. Overnight, this river died.” (RELATED: Toxic Train Derailment Killed More Than 43,000 Aquatic Animals, Department Says)

China‘s state-run China Nonferrous Metals Industry Group holds a majority stake in the mining company, the outlet reported. The situation reportedly incensed many Zambians, who were already disgruntled by reports of Chinese companies’ disregard for Zambian safety and labor laws.

China is Zambia‘s biggest creditor as the African country owes China over $4 billion, defaulted on the debt in 2020, and had to restructure it in a deal brokered in France in 2023.

Environmental pollution could attract a fine of 280,000 Zambian kwacha (more than 9700 U.S. dollars) with the possibility of jail time, according to the country’s Environmental Management Act, Nzovu told the Senate.

Some 12,000,000-odd Zambians — about 60% of the country’s population — live in the Kafue River basin, with the river providing potable water and sustaining fishing, farming, and industrial activities, the AP noted.

Zhang Peiwen, Sino Metals’ Chairman, apologized at a press conference to President Hichilema and all affected Zambians, according to the Zambian National Broadcasting Corporation.

“Sino Metals should not just end at taking responsibility for what has happened, but should ensure that the pollution is thoroughly cleaned up and the affected people are properly compensated,” Nzovu said in a separate statement.

Authorities applied about 600 tonnes of lime to the affected tributary to neutralize the acid, Nzovu said. The situation was improving, he added.

The Chinese Deputy Ambassador to Zambia, Wang Sheng, said China would help Zambia clean up the affected water bodies and will monitor Chinese companies’ compliance with Zambian law, according to Nzovu.

Nzovu said in early March that he visited another Chinese mining company, Rongxing Investments, unannounced and discovered that the company was discharging effluent from its failing tailings dam into another water body.

The affected areas lie in and around Zambia’s mineral-rich Copperbelt Province.

The Zambian authorities convened a high-level emergency meeting March 11 to chart a way forward from the crises.