DAP’s Klang MP Charles Santiago has expressed concern that the Selangor government’s claim that the mining water is to be channelled to the Sungai Selangor water treatment plant is safe.

Recent research shows that the mining pond in Bestari Jaya is in fact heavily contaminated with metals, Charles said.

According to two different Universiti Malaya researches, he told Malaysiakini today, the mining pond in Bestari Jaya, from which Selangor intends to extract water, is contaminated with arsenic, chromium, copper, lead, zinc and tin.

“Both these studies confirm that the Bestari Jaya mining pool water faces heavy metal contamination and water degradation,” he said.

Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim has claimed that it will end water rationing if the extraction of mining water proves successful.

Dangers to public health

Charles said the heavy metal pollution level in these waters were between moderate to very high, and thus poses heavy environmental and human health  risks.

“This has implications to public health,” he said.

He added that the water treatment plant would not be able to clean water that is heavily toxic, thus making it still unsafe for consumption.

According to the two studies, published in 2010 and 2012 respectively, the metal concentration found in Bestari Jaya exceeds the permissible limits set by the Malaysian Water Quality Standards.

"(It) is concluded that Bestari Jaya ex-mining catchment has high pollution potential due to mining activities and Sungai Air Hitam,  recipient of catchment water is a highly polluted river," an excerpt from the 2010 study states.

The study by Muhammad Aqeel Ashraf, Jail Mohd and Ismail Yusoff was published by the International Journal of Basic & Applied Sciences.