[Preview of the Weekly] The Environmental Pollution Alarm for Tailings Dams Must Ring Continuously (AI Translation)
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- The aftermath of a tailings dam collapse six years ago in Hubei Province, China, continues to affect the area with contaminated land and high restoration costs. The incident involved nearly one million cubic meters of tailings, water, and dam materials flooding farmland and resulting in casualties.
- Efforts to address the environmental damage have been slow and contentious. A fund was established for compensation, but disagreements persist over the adequacy of remediation measures. Some residents oppose the 'control-based' remediation that has been carried out, arguing it is insufficient as it merely covers the tailings without removing them.
- The broader issue of tailings dams in China highlights challenges such as safety risks, environmental impacts, low utilization rates for extracted tailings, and difficulties in comprehensive management and regulation. Tailings from mining operations pose ongoing risks due to their potential for pollution and physical instability.
文｜财新周刊 王硕
By Wang Shuo for Caixin Weekly
六年前尾矿库溃坝事故泄漏的尾砂，仍堆压在农田里。这起由矿山开采企业生产安全事故次生的环境污染事件，影响持续至今，修复成本高昂，过程缓慢而艰难。
Six years after the tailings dam collapse, the leaked tailings still pile up on farmland. This environmental pollution incident, secondary to a production safety accident by a mining company, continues to have an impact to this day, with high restoration costs and a slow and arduous recovery process.
2017年3月12日凌晨2点10分，湖北省大冶有色金属有限公司（下称“大冶有色”）铜绿山铜铁矿尾矿库发生溃坝事故。近百万立方米尾砂、水、坝体土方倾泻而下，淹没了泉塘村农田近700亩，并造成下游居民2人死亡、1人失联。
At 2:10 a.m. on March 12, 2017, a dam failure occurred at the tailings pond of the Tonglvshan Copper and Iron Mine operated by Daye Nonferrous Metals Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Daye Nonferrous") in Hubei Province. Nearly one million cubic meters of tailings, water, and earth from the dam body poured out, submerging close to 700 acres of farmland in Quantang Village and resulting in the death of two downstream residents and one missing person.
铜绿山“3·12”溃坝事故发生后，从国务院到省市县各级都进行了高级别响应。应急救援结束后，大冶市事故抢险救援指挥部成立事故善后专班。据统计，大冶有色铜绿山铜铁矿先后为溃坝事故支付应急抢险、人员伤亡及财产损失等赔偿费用共计4518.28万元，包括承包村民农田的鱼塘主等9家养殖户地面物损失及人员伤亡赔偿，但对于被尾矿泄漏污染土地的修复处置及村民的补偿，不在此范畴。
Following the "3·12" dam collapse at Tonglvshan, there was a high-level response from the State Council down to provincial, city, and county levels. After emergency rescue efforts concluded, Daye City established a special task force within its accident emergency rescue command to handle the aftermath of the incident. According to statistics, Daye Nonferrous Metals Group's Tonglvshan Copper and Iron Mine has paid a total of 45.1828 million yuan in compensation for emergency rescue operations, casualties, property damage, and other expenses related to the dam collapse. This includes compensation for surface damage and personal injury to nine aquaculture households such as fish pond owners who contracted farmland from villagers. However, compensation for the remediation of land contaminated by tailings leakage and additional compensation for villagers are not included in this figure.
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