An environmental group wants the government to issue a stop work order on the Bukit Koman gold mine, rejecting claims that the hydrogen cyanide emissions in the town are within safe levels as the government is using the wrong standards.

Pahang Raub Ban Cyanide in Gold Mining Action Committee (BCAC) argued today that the Department of Environment's (DOE) claim that the emissions from the Raub Australian Gold Mining Sdn Bhd were safe were based on the wrong standards.

"According to the DOE ambient air monitoring exercise conducted daily since January 2013, hydrogen cyanide as high as 1.15 parts per million (ppm) has been detected in the ambient air in Bukit Koman.

NONE "This is more than 38 times higher than the maximum permissible limit of New York, USA (0.03ppm), Czech Republic (0.007ppm) and Russia (0.009ppm).

"This has clearly showed that the residents of Bukit Koman are continuously exposed to hazardous hydrogen cyanide gas at a concentration far exceeding the safety level," said the group in a statement today.

They were responding to the DOE's claims reported in The Malay Mail yesterday that the air in the Bukit Koman area was safe and that the department was monitoring the air quality regularly.

  Difference in monitoring questioned

"DOE also stated that the hydrogen cyanide concentration is within the safe level as long as it does not breach the maximum permissible levels of 10ppm and 4.7ppm.

They pointed out that the two standards adopted by the DOE are not for residential areas, but for mine workers, and slammed the department for not coming clean on the matter.

"Both of the standards are not to be used for ambient air in a residential setting," they said, adding that workers are exposed only for a limited time, while residents are exposed 24 hours a day.

‘DOE should not use (the present) standards to mislead the public and create a false impression that the air we breathe in Bukit Koman is safe. It is not," they said.

They also argued that the air quality monitoring period was limited to 15 hours a day rather than continuously.

"Currently DOE only monitors the ambient air from 9am till 3am, and skips the early morning period where a lot of residents always complain of detecting a strong chemical odour.

"We must be aware that hydrogen cyanide is not listed as a parameter in the Malaysia Ambient Air Quality Standard (MAAQS) precisely because it should not be detected in the ambient air at all," they added.

The group demanded that:

1. An immediate stop work order be issued to allow a full investigation into the extent of environmental contamination allegedly caused by the gold mining operations.

2. For the DOE to disclose the complete records of its air monitoring devices, that includes details of other contaminants.

3. An extension of the monitoring period to 24 hours.

4. A revision of existing MAAQS and other related environmental regulations with a view to ban cyanide use in gold mining.

"According to the earlier statements made by Pahang exco member Hoh Khai Mun, he shall take action against Raub Australian Gold Mining once any hydrogen cyanide content was detected in the ambient air.

"Based on the current DOE ambient air monitoring report, we demand Hoh that act on his promise and hence take immediate action against Raub Australian Gold Mining," the group added.

Raub Australian Gold Mining has ,however, denied all allegations and has taken individual activists and the press, including Malaysiakini, which reported the matter to court, alleging defamation.