Assessing the impacts of Eyethu coal mining activities on the surrounding communities: A case study of Vosman township, Emalahleni Municipality in Mpumalanga Province.

Abstract

Mining is economically important. However, the sector often ignores the environmental impacts of mining activites. These impacts can seriously harm the health of local communities and damage water sources and agricultural products. The aim of this study was to investigate the impacts of Eyethu coal mining on the community of Vosman in Emalahleni, in the Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. A mixed research approach was employed, where the use of Remote Sensing to detect land-use and land-cover changes over the years was complemented by a survey (197 respondents) to assess the health impacts of the mine, while water quality assessment and risk assessment were also used to assess the impacts on the nearby river. The key findings suggested that Eyethu coal mining has contributed to the environmental degradation of the study and surrounding area, particularly the destruction of natural vegetation. Inhabitants also reported ground instability (65.9%), health impairment (55.9%, mainly respiratory illnesses), altered air (54.4%) and water quality contamination (55.9%), and this notwithstanding the fact that the people still use the river for domestic and agricultural purposes. These perceptions coincided with objective scientific evaluations of the water quality, which also concluded that the upper river section was highly acidic (pH 3.26), with considerable levels of arsenic (0.024 μg/L) and mercury (0.006 μg/L While formal inferential statistical tests were not conducted, comparative analysis of environmental indicators between the baseline period (T1) and the most recent period (T2) demonstrates a clear increase in land-use disturbance, vegetation loss, and water-quality alteration over time. All heavy metals that were measured were within the threshold of the SANS 241 standards; however, the acidic environment promotes metal solubility and poses a long-term threat to the ecosystem and human health. The Chronic Daily Intake (CDI), Hazard Quotient (HQ) and Hazard Index (HI) were all revealed to be lower than 1, which indicates a low chance of causing non-carcinogenic diseases. In conclusion, the study showed negative impacts attributed by the mine. From changes in land use and land cover, to impacts on human health as well as changes in water quality. Although water quality indices revealed that the impacts of the mine on water quality are not yet severe for assessed heavy metals, this might not be the case with other heavy metals. The study recommends a strong enforcement of environmental regulations, monitoring and rehabilitation, and community engagement in the mining decisions. Moreover, more risk assessments of other heavy metals are encouraged to generalise the quality of the nearby river.