Toxic waters threaten to dissolve Johannesburg from the ground up
Poisonous water rising from the ground threatens Johannesburg - The Globe and Mail
The problem is known as “acid mine drainage” and it has affected mining regions around the world, including Canada. With nearly 6,000 abandoned mines across the country, South Africa is more endangered than any other. But no metropolis is as threatened as Johannesburg, and the situation here offers a glimpse of what might some day happen in parts of Canada if the problem is not properly managed.
Some analysts are calling it a ticking time-bomb. One scientist has described it as “South Africa’s own Chernobyl” – potentially one of the worst environmental catastrophes in the continent. The toxic mine water is 550 metres below Johannesburg, but it is rising by at least 0.35 metres a day – possibly up to a metre a day – and could reach a critical level within the next 15 months. Officials have acknowledged that the rising water could begin to trigger sinkholes and earth tremors if it reaches within 150 metres of the surface.
The implications, according to environmentalists, are like something out of a disaster movie. The acidic water could corrode the foundations of Johannesburg’s buildings, eating away at the steel and causing buildings to collapse. Small earthquakes could be triggered as water flows into cracks in the earth. Drinking water could be contaminated. Rivers and wildlife reserves could be endangered. Huge sinkholes could be created. Drainage from old uranium mines could cause radioactivity in the water supply. Human health could be damaged.
Dozens of other cities 
