Bukit Koman air full of poison, says green group

ARCHIVES 2013

By admin-s On Feb 8, 2013

(Free Malaysia Today) – ‘Cyanide exposure is more than 30 times higher than the level permitted in New York.’

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.