Bukit Koman air full of poison, says green group

‘Cyanide exposure is more than 30 times higher than the level permitted in New York.’

PETALING JAYA: An environmental group has claimed that the use of cyanide in gold mining activities is causing excessive air pollution in Bukit Koman, Pahang.

The pollutants include hydrogen cyanide gas, according to Sherly Hue, a leader of the Pahang Ban Cyanide in Gold Mining Action Committee.

She told FMT that on a certain day in early January, the amount of hydrogen cyanide in the air around Bukit Koman was recorded at 1.1 ppm (parts per million), a level that World Health Organisation (WHO) considers hazardous.

The reading was taken some time after Jan 3, the date on which the Pahang Department of Environment (DOE) erected a monitoring station next to SJK (C) Yuh Wah. The station measures the gas level for 15 hours a day.

“According to WHO, the permissible levels for the gas exposure are 0.03 ppm in New York and 0.009 ppm in the Czech Republic,” Hue said.

“The cyanide exposure in Bukit Koman is 30 times above the safety level of New York.”

However, DOE has set the maximum exposure level at 10 ppm, as displayed on a board next to the monitoring station.

Residents in Bukit Koman have been pressing for the authorities to ban the use cyanide in the area by the Raub Australian Gold Mine (RAGM). They went to court over it in 2008.

The residents claim that within a month after RAGM started its operation in 2009, more than 300 people living around the area were afflicted by skin rashes, shortness of breath and other illnesses.

RAGM rejected the allegations and the Federal Cabinet insisted in 2009 that the plant posed no hazard to the environment.

Hue said she was puzzled by DOE’s decision to raise the permissible exposure limit.

The US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has established a recommended exposure limit of 4.7 ppm for eight working hours.

“The safety limit of 10ppm is twice the US standard,” Hue said. “Furthermore, the residents here are exposed to the gas for 24 hours every day.”

She urged the authorities to address the problem quickly. “If the pollution is really caused by gold mining activities, they should close down the plant.”