Mozambique: Coal miner Vulcan has a deadline to mitigate pollution – Notícias

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Mozambique: Coal miner Vulcan has a deadline to mitigate pollution – Notícias

3:03 CAT | 22 Oct 2024

File photo: Notícias

Mining company Vulcan, which extracts coal in the Moatize mines in Tete, is undergoing reorganisation to comply with the government’s recommendations regarding mitigating environmental pollution levels.

The information was released a few days ago by the Minister of Land and Environment, Ivete Maibaze, speaking to journalists in Mbatamila, in the context of the Niassa Special Reserve 70th anniversary celebrations.

Maibaze explained that the latest assessment of the environmental management plan, presented last year by Vulcan, did not meet the required standards, much less the measures to mitigate environmental pollution.

“First, the report on the [coal] mounds prepared by Vulcan was assessed and then the environmental management plan was revised. In particular, we took the decision that Vulcan should immediately review the environmental management plan to increase environmental quality standards and contribute to reducing pollution in this area,” Minister Maibaze said.

The executive also recommended that the Indian-owned company submit an environmental management plan within six months, taking into consideration the complexity of the process.

The focus on environmental pollution near the coal mines in Moatize was triggered by residents of the district. Subsequently, the government created a multi-sectoral team, which included the Ministries of Land and Environment; Mineral Resources and Health, which travelled there to assess the situation.

At the time, the team requested the environmental management plan, as it is the instrument that governs the operation of the mine.

On the ground, it was found that consecutive coal heaps had been recorded at the mine, and the situation was also complicated by high temperatures, which caused pollution to concentrate in urban centres and affected local communities due to black clouds of dust.

The minister also remarked that the executive had been monitoring air quality based on environmental audit reports prepared by the National Agency for Environmental Quality Control (AQUA) and through collaboration with Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM), which had collected the samples.

Source: Notícias