A river polluted with cyanide in Ghana

In October 2009, the Yaakyi river, a tributary of the Subri river in Ghana, was polluted following the accidental discharge of sodium cyanide into the water. This incident occurred as the result of negligence by the Newmont Gold Ghana Limited company (a gold mining company) which failed to control the flow of water from one of its control dams. This company uses chemicals that contain sodium cyanide in its gold mining operations.

Spillage occurred when one of the dams solely under machine control without any monitoring by staff overflowed and was not detected in time. The alarm was raised by the local population who were surprised by the number of dead fishes seen floating on the surface of the river. As the result of measures taken by the company, the polluted area was confined to the Yaakyi river before it reaches the Subri river.

The social and economic impact on the local population was limited since the affected area contains only a few small villages and the company supplied them with drinking water. 

Reference

GNA, October, 13^th 2009