United Press International publishes Forecast: U.S. dollar could plunge 90 pct

By UPI  11/24/07 -- -, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- A financial crisis will likely send the U.S. dollar into a free fall of as much as 90 percent...
The Panic of 2008 will lead to a lower U.S. standard of living, he said."....
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18776.htm

Financial Depression of 1873
Townsend builds the smelter 1887

1929: Great Depression
1929-1933 "At the height of the Great Depression, Smeltertown spanned about 25 acres and the population had grown to about 5,000 residents."

1930's : "[Asarco's] company's recovery was aided by President Franklin D. Roosevelt's silver-purchase plan and his devaluation of the dollar, which caused the prices of precious metals to rise."
http://www.answers.com/topic/asarco-incorporated

since 2001 a Russian smelter has illegally smelted radioactive scrap

"ECOMET-S has illegally melted thousands of tons of radioactive scrap metal from the LNPP as well as 150 tons of scrap metal from the Chepetsk Mechanical Plant (the city of Glazov, Udmurt Republic, Volga basin)."
http://www10.antenna.nl/wise/index.html?http://www10.antenna.nl/wise/561/5360.html

from 1989: Tin smelter at Hull in Britain discharges radioactive polonium (LEAD) from stack

"DISCHARGES of radioactivity and other forms of pollution from Europe's biggest tin smelter at Hull in Britain are not to blame for causing abnormally high numbers of childhood cancers in villages close to the site, according to Britain's pollution 'police'.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Pollution cleared the Capper Pass complex on Humberside, pictured here, of blame last week in a report that describes one of the most detailed investigations ever undertaken by the organisation's air pollution and radiochemical inspectors.

The chimney at the plant, which is 180 metres high, discharges radioactive polonium-210 [LEAD/Pb] as well as a cocktail of other toxic pollutants including antimony, arsenic, cadmium, lead, tin and zinc.

The inspectorate says that, on the basis of environmental data, predictions of dispersion patterns, radiological assessments and epidemio-logical studies, there is no evidence to link unusually high incidence of leukemia in the area with radioactive pollution from the plant. The report concludes that with the exception of cadmium, the concentrations of pollutants would not be expected to damage health.

From issue 1658 of New Scientist magazine, 01 April 1989"

Smelting radioactive material

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 14:38:05 GMT
" Johannesburg - South Africa's Environment Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk on Friday gave the green light for the construction of a smelter for radioactive nuclear waste at the site of the Pelindaba nuclear facility outside Pretoria. The facility would be used to process about 140,000 tons of waste of varying levels of radioactivity, said van Schalkwyk. No "viable alternative" for treating nuclear waste in South Africa had been found, he said in his written decision. Some of the radioactive metal equipment used in South Africa's secretive apartheid-era uranium enrichment programme, under which it developed six and a half nuclear bombs, are to be melted down. The green light for the smelter came despite objections from residents and anti-nuclear and environmental activists. South Africa recently approved plans to resume uranium enrichment. The country has a nuclear-fired electricity plant at Koeberg near Cape Town."
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/100620.html

1976 Jun 01 Feasibility study of a portable smelter for scrap metals

"The use of a portable smelter to process uranium-contaminated scrap metals was studied.^Objectives were to convert scrap metal located at many diverse sites into a form which would be suitable for unlicensed sale and reduce the problems associated with storing the scrap.^The Foundry Design Company study indicated the portable smelter concept was feasible from an equipment and transportation standpoint.^Capital costs for a 5-ton/hour (steel) nominal capacity unit were estimated to be $2,349,000.^Technical evaluation indicates that all the common metals considered, i.e., iron, nickel, copper, and aluminum, are amenable to uranium decontamination by smelting except aluminum.^An economic evaluation of the processing of the 30,000 tons of steel scrap to be generated by the Cascade Improvement Program by a portable smelter was made based upon information supplied by Foundry Design Company, plus the assumption that the product metal could be sold for $120.00 per ton.^This evaluation indicated a net return of $2,424,000 to the government could be realized.^The Health and Safety study indicated no major problems of this nature would be encountered in operating a portable smelter.^The legal review indicated the proposed operation fell within the authority of existing regulations.^Consideration of possible conflicts with regard to competition with the private sector was suggested.^(DLC)"
http://www.osti.gov/energycitations/product.biblio.jsp?osti_id=7269860

Prenatal Arsenic Exposure Detected In Newborns

Prenatal Arsenic Exposure Detected In Newborns

ScienceDaily (Nov. 23, 2007) — MIT researchers have found that the children of mothers whose water supplies were contaminated with arsenic during their pregnancies harbored gene expression changes that may lead to cancer and other diseases later in life. In addition to establishing the potential harmful effects of these prenatal exposures, the new study also provides a possible method for screening populations to detect signs of arsenic contamination.

This is the first time evidence of such genome-wide changes resulting from prenatal exposure has ever been documented from any environmental contaminant. It suggests that even when water supplies are cleaned up and the children never experience any direct exposure to the pollutant, they may suffer lasting damage.

The evidence comes from studies of 32 mothers and their children in a province of Thailand that experienced heavy arsenic contamination from tin mining. Similar levels of arsenic are also found in many other regions, including the US Southwest.

The research was led by Mathuros Ruchirawat, Director of the Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology of the Chulabhorn Research Institute (CRI) in Thailand, and Leona D. Samson, Director of MIT's Center for Environmental Health Sciences (CEHS) and the American Cancer Society Professor in the Departments of Biological Engineering and Biology at MIT. The first author of the study is Rebecca C. Fry, a research scientist at CEHS. Coauthors include Panida Navasumrit of the CRI and Chandni Valiathan, graduate student at MIT's Computational and Systems Biology Initiative.

The team analyzed blood that had been collected from umbilical cords at birth. The exposure of mothers to arsenic during their pregnancy was independently determined by analyzing toenail clippings -- the most reliable way of detecting past arsenic exposure.

The team found a collection of about 450 genes whose expression had been turned on or turned off in babies who had been exposed to arsenic while in the womb. That is, these genes had either become significantly more active (in most cases) or less active than in unexposed babies.

"We were looking to see whether we could have figured out that these babies were exposed in utero" just by using the gene expression screening on the stored blood samples, Samson says. "The answer was a resounding yes."

Further, the team found that a subset of just 11 of these genes could be used as a highly reliable test for determining whether babies had been born to mothers exposed to arsenic during pregnancy. Since blood samples are already taken routinely for medical tests this may provide an easier way of screening for such exposure.

The gene expression changes the group found in the exposed children are mostly associated with inflammation, which can lead to increased cancer risk. Recognizing the damaging effects of the arsenic exposure, "the government has provided alternative water sources" to the affected villages, Fry says, which means that following these children as they grow older (they are now toddlers) has the potential to show how long-lasting the effects of the prenatal exposure may be. However, she adds, this may be complicated by the fact that many people are still using the local water for cooking.

It's not yet clear how long the changes may last. "We will be testing whether these gene expression changes have persisted in these children," Fry says.

This is the first time such a response to prenatal arsenic exposure has been found in humans. But it is not entirely unexpected, Samson explains, because "in mice, when mothers are transiently exposed to arsenic in the drinking water, their progeny, in their adult life, are much more cancer-prone."

Further research could include studies of possible ways of reversing or mitigating the damage, perhaps through dietary changes, nutritional supplements, or drug treatments to counteract the gene expression changes.

Also, the group plans to do follow-up studies in different locations and with larger groups of subjects to confirm the value of the 11 "marker" genes as a reliable indicator of arsenic exposure. The researchers also aim to determine whether the gene expression changes are specific to arsenic.

This study is an example of the CEHS's efforts to promote collaborative interdisciplinary research into global environmental health issues, specifically in the developing world.

The research will be reported in the Nov. 23 issue of PLoS Genetics.

This research was funded by the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences and the Chulabhorn Research Institute.

Adapted from materials provided by Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Need to cite this story in your essay, paper, or report? Use one of the following formats:

APA

MLA

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2007, November 23). Prenatal Arsenic Exposure Detected In Newborns. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 23, 2007, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2007/11/071122225245.htm

 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071122225245.htm

 

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What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal.
Albert Pine

Newspaper Tree replies to El Paso Inc.

By misrepresenting the source of the assertions, the Inc misrepresents the significance and context of the report, a fundamental error. Taking the GAO report on military hazwaste and Asarco out of context, the Inc defends itself with an ...

By Newspaper Tree
Media Watch: A Dear Tom Letter to Fenton, El Paso Inc

Texas Observer article on County Attorney investigation of Asarco

No Wall Will Stop the Wave

Texas Observer - Austin,TX,USA

Litle has extremely quick response to ACORN press release - and no one is talking about the unknown TOXIC WASTE

ACORN v. Asarco
http://newspapertree.com/news/1819-acorn-v-asarco
by NPT Staff

Dueling news releases from ACORN and from Asarco.

Posted on November 16, 2007

Editor's note: NPT received these two news releases, the first from the group ACORN Thursday Nov. 15, 2007, the second from Asarco the following day

***

Nov. 15, Acorn

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, November 15, 2007 Contact:
Jose Manuel Escobedo, Head Organizer

EPA to Adopt New Lead Air Standards in 2008
Health professionals weigh in on new rules impact on
Asarco application for air quality permit

EL PASO – The US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) lead expert panel has set standards more protective of public health. These new standards will directly impact Asarco’s Air Permit Application. Below is a summary of these impacts over the next ten months.

1. EPA is under a court order to adopt a new final lead air standard by September 1, 2008.

2. The new lead air standard will be no higher than 0.2 ug/m^3 and as low as 0.05 ug/m^3. The current standard is 1.5 ug/m^3.

3. ASARCO's newest air model said it would meet the highest end of the new lead standard, but it also suggests that ASARCO will have no margin of safety and the new lead air standard could be tighter than ASARCO's air modeling of 0.2 ug/m^3 meaning the smelter can not comply.

4. The new EPA lead air standard may be based on monthly averaging which would be more protective and more stringent than the current Lead NAAQS using quarterly averaging. ASARCO's air modeling is based on quarterly averaging and not monthly averaging.

5. The EPA is planning to issue the new lead proposal in March 2008, to
provide the public ample time to comment. Public comment period will
follow later in the spring.

6. EPA is required by a consent decree to issue a public proposal regarding the
lead standards by May 1, 2008.

WHO: El Paso County Medical Society, ACORN, Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid, representative from Senator Shapleigh’s office and available for questions via phone: Neil Carmen, Clean Air Program Director, Lone Star Chapter – Sierra Club, Philip Landrigan, MD, MSc – Chair, Department of Community and Preventative Medicine, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine

WHAT: Press Conference: Impact of new EPA rules on Asarco application for air permit
WHEN: Friday, November 16th, 1:30 PM
WHERE: 220 Lawton. Corner of Lawton and Mundy, outside of Vilas School
IN CASE OF RAIN: At the gazebo at Mundy Park at Porfirio Diaz and Yandell
WHY: To discuss impact of new EPA rules on Asarco application for air permit

###

ACORN is the nation's largest community organization of low- and – moderate income families, with over 300,000 member families organized into 800 neighborhood chapters in 108 cities across the country. Since 1970 ACORN has taken action and won victories on issues of concern to our members, including better housing for first-time homebuyers and tenants, living wages for low-wage workers, more investment in our communities from banks and governments, and better public schools.

***

Nov. 16, Asarco

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 16, 2007

For additional information:

Teresa Montoya

Montoya PR

ASARCO’S RESPONSE TO

“ACORN ON NEW EPA AIR STANDARDS APPLIED TO ASARCO”

From Robert “Bob” Litle, El Paso Plant Manager

The same small group of opponents continues to use scare tactics and misinformation in their campaign against Asarco.

The facts are:

1. It is old news that the EPA is reviewing the current National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for lead for the entire country, not just El Paso. The NAAQS are air quality standards established to be protective of the most vulnerable populations – senior citizens and children.

2. El Paso’s air is already far better than the current NAAQS for lead. In fact, El Paso has been in attainment for lead since the mid-eighties.

3. Asarco’s allowable emissions are better than the current standard and better than ACORN’S numbers presented in their press release according to the most extensive air modeling ever completed which encompasses 30 miles of our plant including El Paso, Juarez, and New Mexico.

4. The scientific data shows that there will not be any negative health effects from Asarco’s allowable lead emissions.

***

Nov. 16, Acorn

EPA to Adopt New Lead Air Standards in 2008
Health professionals weigh in on new rules impact on
Asarco application for air quality permit

In a Follow up to today’s press conference outlining how new EPA rules will affect Asarco’s air permit application, we add the following comments:

As we know, the EPA is recommending a new, stricter standard that may be as low as .05 micrograms per cubic meter and as high as .20 micrograms per cubic meter. ASARCO claims that their modeling indicates that they will meet a new standard of .20 micrograms per cubic meter based on monthly averages. However, even if the EPA adopts a new standard of .20 micrograms per cubic meter, our region will risk being in non-attainment. This is because of
background lead concentrations in El Paso. According to ASARCO, those background concentrations are .07 micrograms per cubic meter. Once added to Asarco’s emissions, the total ambient lead in El Paso County would be .27 micrograms per cubic meter: we would not be in compliance and the County would once again be in non-attainment for the lead NAAQS.

For reference questions please call:

Neil Carman, Ph.D., Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club, 512-288-0042

Verónica Carbajal, Attorney, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, Inc. (TRLA), 915-585-5107

###

ACORN is the nation's largest community organization of low- and – moderate income families, with over 300,000 member families organized into 800 neighborhood chapters in 108 cities across the country. Since 1970 ACORN has taken action and won victories on issues of concern to our members, including better housing for first-time homebuyers and tenants, living wages for low-wage workers, more investment in our communities from banks and governments, and better public schools.

Still no mention of looking for the undisclosed TOXIC WASTE from ASARCO...

Acorn on New EPA Air Standards as Applied to Asarco
Newspaper Tree - El Paso,TX,USA
These new standards will directly impact Asarco's Air Permit Application. Below is a summary of these impacts over the next ten months. 1. ...

Press Conference - Impact of New EPA Rules on ASARCO Application ...
By Texas RioGrande Legal Aid
WHAT: Press Conference: Impact of new EPA rules on Asarco application for air permit WHEN: Friday, November 16th, 1:30 PM WHERE: 220 Lawton. Corner of Lawton and Mundy, outside of Vilas School IN CASE OF RAIN: At the gazebo at Mundy ...

Rep. Reyes summarizes GAO report showing Asarco handled and disposed of illegal toxic waste (using industrial furnace)

http://www.elpasotimes.com/newupdated/ci_7451744

http://www.newspapertree.com/politics/1806-gao-report-sheds-light-on-asarco-misconduct-reyes-says

Conspiracies of Silence

Letters published in the Times
El Paso Times Staff
Article Launched: 11/11/2007 12:00:00 AM MST
http://www.elpasotimes.com/opinion/ci_7427964

Silent on Asarco hazardous waste

Conspiracies of silence have for too long concealed Asarco's dismal health impact history. In an El Paso Times article, published Oct. 16, Asarco lawyers deny the city's accusation that Asarco smelted hazardous wastes. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) was silent during the controversy.

During Mayor Raymond Caballero's administration, his Environmental Task Force discovered a relevant internal memorandum at TCEQ's local office. The memorandum revealed that manifests of Asarco's alleged "recyclable" wastes under the TCEQ's jurisdiction had been impeached during the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) investigation.

The integrity of reports on Asarco's cargo manifests had been violated. When the EPA confronted the TCEQ employee responsible for inspecting Asarco's cargo manifests, he testified, on the advice of TCEQ's Austin attorneys, that he did not have the time or personnel to conduct a proper inspection. This striking disclosure presents unanswered questions about the quality, quantity, source etc., of Asarco's wastes.

This poses a more serious question. Was this failure over a long period of years a sign of a silent conspiracy?

Joe Piñón

TENORM and NORM Waste: Problems in the Texas oil system near Dallas/Ft.Worth

http://www.texaskaos.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=4251

Faces against the Dump today at 3 PM

Please gather today at 3PM at the Sunland Park Desert View Elementary
school.

People from the Sunland Park Grassroots environmental group, Colonias
Development Council, and others will gather for a photo against the
Regional Camino Real Landfill (DUMP), which is trying to renew a
ten-year permit.

This Dump is located on our water supply (the Rio Grande) just hundreds
of feet above the aquifer that feeds the Hueco Bolson at the Paso del
Norte; and right on an international border (despite the La Paz accord
(agreement) to not turn the border into a dump.)

The Dump is starting a methane-to-energy project. Only about 50% of the
gases coming off the dump are methane, we think -- the rest, only the
almighty apparently knows. Beneath the dirt at the dump lie toxic
waste recently disclosed by Phelps Dodge; and, loads of Zinc-stack
demolition debris from ASARCO (taken down during the Toxic-waste burning
years). The Dump accepts commercial waste from USA industries in Cd.
Juarez and El Paso and at least one person has seen a truck come here as
far away as Chicago...

Please come and stand with everyone.

Gas drilling's dirty side effect: Radioactive material....

Gas drilling’s dirty side effect: Radioactive material brought up from Barnett Shale during production
10:01 AM CST on Sunday, November 11, 2007 By Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe / Staff Writer
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first in a series of four stories on radioactive material generated by natural gas production in the Barnett Shale.
http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/drc/localnews/stories/DRC_NORM1_11-11.1fb48b711.html

"In Denton, Tarrant and Wise counties, all kinds of equipment — from pipes and separators to frac and brine-hauling tanks — have been decontaminated in [just] the past two years.

Texas Railroad Commission rules allow the industry to self-monitor for NORM, and many operators are slow to decontaminate the radioactive residue because of its cost, industry insiders say. Furthermore, only two of nearly 200 operators registered with the commission in the Barnett Shale’s core counties — Key Energy Services and Devon Energy — have provided for such decontamination in the past two years."

"Statewide, 140 such sites were decontaminated from January 2005 to the present, according to documents obtained from the Department of State Health Services, which oversees decontamination of the state’s hottest radioactive waste."

Radioactivity found in the Copper Belt

"V. Enhanced pollution due to technological processing. Waste elements that are put into the waste heaps release toxins into the environment, in an affect called “technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials” (TENORM) by Environmental Protection Agency. In other words, when you bring toxic metals, which are buried in the ground with no potential to harm human health, to the surface, put them in waste dumps exposed to the air, and subject them to various technological processes, there is a potential for adverse affects on human health. This is particularly true in Arizona where there are abundant deposits of radioactive metals and poisonous arsenic. In 1999, Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D. C. published a report on this uranium and radioactive chemicals in the “Copper Belt” of Southern Arizona. Following is an excerpt from that report:

Nearly all rocks, soils, thorium, radium, radioisotopes,naturally occurring radioactive purposefully or inadvertently technologically enhanced naturally as any naturally occurring human exposure has been activities (NAS, 1999). . . .

Levels in excess of the federal MCLs and state guidelines were found in groundwater and surface water samples, as well as soil and sediment samples at abandoned and active copper mines. TENORM exceedences were also found in groundwater at active and inactive copper mines. Uranium byproducts were recovered from heap leach dumps and in-situ operations that feed SX-EW and ion exchange circuits at several copper mines. Radioactivity was discovered in copper mineral processing waste streams. Elevated levels of radioactivity were also found to occur in the process solutions and process wastes."

For entire report, see: www.epa.gov/radiation/docs/tenorm/402-r-99-002.pdf

http://www.savethesantacruzaquifer.info/Superior.htm

TENORM waste

"Only a crude estimate can be made of the annual total ²²⁶Ra activity transferred from oil reservoirs to the surface. A United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) study of 10 oil production wells analysed scale and sludge production rates. (11) The amount estimated was about 250m³ for a period of 20 years. The resulting amount of waste generated by one oil-producing well per year is about 2.25 tons, using a waste density of 1.8 tonnes.m^-3. In order to derive an average 226Ra activity concentration, the same study used results of a large number of external gamma readings (6,274) taken in several oil production facilities and converted these to the activity concentration. There is a significant uncertainty attached to such a procedure because of the effects of equipment wall thickness, self-absorption of the radiation in the scale and thickness of the scale, and distribution of radium within the scale. The published average radium concentration was 4.6Bqg^-1. Hence, the resulting estimate of total ²²⁶Ra activity brought to the surface is 918GBq per year. Similar studies are due to be undertaken in oil and gas-extracting facilities in other parts of the world, so an average ²²⁶Ra activity brought to the surface per year can be derived with any degree of certainty."

http://www.touchoilandgas.com/radiological-impact-extraction-a97-1.html

TENORM waste from metals used in pipelines (gas)

"TENORM [technologically enhanced/concentrated naturally occurring radioactive material] contamination levels in equipment varied widely among types of equipment and geographic region. The geographic areas with the highest equipment readings were northern Texas and the gulf coast crescent from southern Louisiana and Mississippi to the Florida panhandle. Very low levels of TENORM were found in California, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, and northern Kansas.

According to an API industry-wide survey, approximately 64 percent of the gas producing equipment and 57 percent of the oil production equipment showed radioactivity at or near background levels. TENORM radioactivity levels tend to be highest in water handling equipment. Average exposure levels for this equipment were between 30 to 40 micro Roentgens per hour (μR/hr), which is about 5 times background. Gas processing equipment with the highest levels include the reflux pumps, propane pumps and tanks, other pumps, and product lines. Average radiation levels for this equipment as between 30 to 70 μR/hr. Exposures from some oil production and gas processing equipment exceeded 1 mR/hr.

Gas plant processing equipment is generally contaminated on the surface by lead-210 (Pb-210). However, TENORM may also accumulate in gas plant equipment from radon (Rn-222) gas decay. Radon gas is highly mobile. It originates in underground formations and dissolves in the organic petroleum areas of the gas plant. It concentrates mainly in the more volatile propane and ethane fractions of the gas.

Gas plant scales differ from oil production scales, typically consisting of radon decay products which accumulate on the interior surfaces of plant equipment. Radon itself decays quickly, (its half-life is 3.8 days). As a result, the only radionuclides that affect disposal are the radon decay products polonium-210 (Po-210) and lead-210. Polonium-210 is an alpha emitter with a half-life of 140 days. Pb-210 is a weak beta and gamma emitter with a half-life of 22 years.

Disposal and Reuse: Past Practices:  Recycling of Metals
Before the accumulation of TENORM in oil production equipment was recognized, contaminated materials were occasionally recycled for use in making steel products....

Disposal and Reuse:  Current Practices -Recycling of Metals:
Now that the petroleum industry is aware of the potential for contamination, they take a number of precautions before recycling:

Loads of scrap metal are surveyed for hidden radioactive sources and TENORM.
Piping and equipment are cleaned before release for recycling at smelters.
Pollution control devices, such as filters and bubblers, are installed in smelter stacks to reduce airborne radiation releases.
Although much of the NORM-contaminated equipment is presently stored in controlled areas, some companies are now cleaning the equipment and proposing to store it at designated disposal sites.
http://www.epa.gov/rpdweb00/tenorm/oilandgas.html

Asarco a Defense Contractor in 2003 ...

FY 2003 DoD Contractors [PAGE] 32

ASARCO INCORPORATED

http://www.dod.mil/dodgc/defense_ethics/resource_library/contractors03.pdf

Copper Ore containing Uranium dumped into Congo River: Officials arrested for the dumping of Toxic Waste

"At least seven people are said to be under arrest in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) after radioactive mineral waste was poured into a river in the southeast of the country. Selah Hennessy reports from the VOA West and Central Africa bureau in Dakar that teams are currently working to rid the river of the waste.
Didace Pembe, Congo's environment minister, says the official who ordered the toxic waste to be dumped has been arrested.
According to local reporter Eddy Isango, seven people from the commission in charge of disposing the minerals are also under arrest.
On Wednesday, the government ordered an inquiry after officials in the southeast province of Katanga said tons of radioactive minerals had been dumped into Mura River, a source of drinking water for the nearby mining town Likasi. The town has a population of around 300,000.
Pembe says the waste has radiation levels 50 times more than the legal standard for safety.
He says the population is being informed through local radio and TV channels not to use the water for drinking, bathing, or for gardening.
He adds that clean up at the site has begun.
Congolese authorities had originally ordered the nearly twenty tons of copper ore containing uranium samples to be dumped in an abandoned uranium mine.
But Pembe says the majority of the toxic minerals were dumped in the river instead.  He says officials are tracing some waste that might have been dumped elsewhere.
Most of the copper ore belongs to the Chinese firm Magma-Lubumbashi.  The environment minister says the company did not request the waste to be dumped in the river."
http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-11-10-voa23.cfm