Mailuu-Suu Pollution, Then and Now
Published on Nov 19, 2015
Mailuu-Suu in Kygystan was in 2006 ranked as one of the ten worst polluted sites by worldpollution.org
This is its story.
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PRESENTATION OUTLINE
Kyrgyzstan, Mailuu-Suu
2006
I'm supposed to be telling the success story of Mailuu-Suu, but the success means nothing without a proper understanding of why a "success" was so desperately needed here
uranium pollution;
25,000 people
All information comes from worstpolluted.org.
In 2006 they reported on the state of affairs in the Mailuu-Suu area.
Some 25,000 people in the area were being exposed to uranium pollution from...
In 2006 they reported on the state of affairs in the Mailuu-Suu area.
Some 25,000 people in the area were being exposed to uranium pollution from...
Photo by IAEA Imagebank
23 tailing dumps and 13 waste rock dumps
dozens of tailing- and waste-rock-dumps.
Just so we're clear, this is the left over rock from uranium mining. In this area, there were millions of cubic meters of waste
Just so we're clear, this is the left over rock from uranium mining. In this area, there were millions of cubic meters of waste
Photo by sjrankin
In the Water
- Uranium & other radionuclides
- heavy metals
Which then contaminated the water supply with left-over Uranium and other radioactive materials, as well as harmful heavy metals, from the mining process
Effects
- 2x as many residents suffered from cancer
- Immune system disorders found in almost 1 in 5 adolescents
- 300,000 cu. m. of material fell into the Mailuu-Suu River near the uranium mine tailings after an earthquake
This in turn caused cancer rates to increase by 100% as compared to elsewhere in the country, resulted in nearly 20% of adolescents developing immune disorders, and caused over 300,000 cubic meters of contaminated material to fall into the local river.
Photo by Albaraa Mehdar
Mailuu-Suu, Kyrgyzstan
2014
In 2014, worstpolluted brought the story of Mailuu-Suu to the forefront a second time.
This is what they reported.
This is what they reported.
What They Started
- Installing water filters in schools
- measuring of radiation levels in houses; installing radiation shields as needed
- investigating health of children
- education and public outreach activities.
What had been integrated was a program to install water filters in school, measure radiation in residences (installing radiation shields as needed), investigate the health of local children, and educate the public on what they're dealing with and how to deal with it.
Photo by USFWS Mountain Prairie
Results
And all that worked out. . . quite well.
48-65% decrease in uranium found at schools
They found that kindergartens' uranium levels had dropped by up to 65% as a result.
after just 40 days children's blood tests imporved
After only forty day of that, those children had markedly better blood tests
Photo by Rod Waddington
significant reduction in radiation exposure
And the whole community was being exposed to significantly less radiation
{Please ignore the background photo, my idea of a joke}
{Please ignore the background photo, my idea of a joke}
Photo by Vigilant Citizen
And now the efforts...
Photo by thenext28days
