Cyanide Has Leaked Into River System, Mining Company Says

The Associated Press

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (AP) - Up to 330 pounds of deadly cyanide has likely contaminated a jungle water system in Papua New Guinea, prompting authorities to warn villagers against drinking the water.

A one-ton box of the chemical accidentally dropped from a helicopter on Tuesday about 55 miles north of the capital, Port Moresby, and mining officials said some of it probably escaped into the surrounded water system.

Dome Resources NL said it sent cleanup teams sent to the site, and expected to recover most of the material. But as much as 330 pounds had probably washed into nearby streams, managing director Michael Silver told Sky News television in Sydney, Australia.

He said he couldn't guarantee that the cyanide didn't pose a threat to anyone drinking the water. Even small quantities of cyanide can be lethal.

Papua New Guinea's National Disaster and Emergency Service issued a warning for people not to drink from rivers and streams in the area.

Environmental groups worried that villagers in the remote area may not get the warning.

Silver said Dome would monitor all waterways in the region for cyanide contamination, adding that the dissolved cyanide "would be diluted very substantially and fortunately the area in which it has landed is very sparsely populated."

The cyanide was destined for the Australian-owned Tolukuma gold mine, which uses the chemical to extract gold in the mining process.

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGIZO77S56C.html

-- Carl Jenkins (Somewherepress@aol.com), March 22, 2000