No more groundwater pollution at Lynas area, says minister

Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Dr Xavier Jayakumar said the groundwater around the Lynas refinery in Gebeng, Kuantan, is no longer polluted by heavy metals.

“The latest tests that were done around the Lynas area gave us negative readings of heavy metals.

“This was done by my department and we did not find anything that is polluting in that area,” he told reporters after he officiated a conservation event in Cyberjaya today.

He was responding to a question about a report by Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change (Mestecc) review committee, which found that groundwater samples provided by Lynas in 2016 were contaminated by heavy metals.

The Mestecc committee does not conclusively finger Lynas for the groundwater contamination, while Lynas blamed surrounding bauxite mining operations as the source of the contamination.

Xavier said he will have to speak to his officers to see if there is any truth to the report.

“We will have to reconfirm these reports that have been said,” he said.

New SOPs keep tabs on bauxite mining

When asked whether there are concerns that the new rounds of bauxite mining in Pahang will cause heavy metals to pollute the groundwater, Xavier pointed out there are new standard operating procedures in place for bauxite mining.

“You must understand that the new bauxite mining SOP and regulations have been put into place after vigorous study, and also, all the agencies that are involved have taken part (in discussions).

“We have had town hall meetings, we have engaged with the ministry’s agencies, we have engaged with the state government, we have engaged with industry players,” he said.

Though there is still work to be done, he said he is “positive” that there will now be full control over the mining and export procedures for bauxite in Pahang.

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