Karenni IEC warns of ‘toxic’ levels of arsenic in Salween River and Molo Creek

Karenni State’s resistance-run civilian authority, the Interim Executive Council (IEC), has warned residents to avoid using water from the Salween River and Molo Creek due to dangerously high arsenic contamination. In an advisory issued on Wednesday, the IEC cited the results of recent water-quality tests that showed arsenic levels ranging from four to nine times the safe limit of 0.01 mg/litre at 10 locations along the Salween and more than 55 times the safe level at one location on Molo Creek. The tests were conducted by the IEC in December, in partnership with the Environmental Research Department of Chiang Mai University in Thailand. Arsenic concentrations are especially high in Molo Creek because it passes through Mawchi, a mining region in Karenni State’s Hpasawng Township, before flowing into the Salween River. The area is currently controlled by resistance forces. “Molo Creek originates in the upper Mawchi area, where it receives wastewater from the Mawchi mine. It then flows into the Salween River near Khe Ma Hpyu, a village in Hpasawng,” Banyar Khun Aung, the Secretary 2 of the IEC, told Myanmar Now. “A sample taken from one site along the creek showed dangerously high toxin levels,” he added. Exposure to arsenic-contaminated water—through direct contact, drinking, cooking, or crop irrigation—can lead to long-term health risks, including lung, skin, liver, and bladder cancers, and may also cause neurological disorders and developmental impairments in children. “People are advised not to eat any aquatic animals from Molo Creek, and if they come into contact with or use water from the Salween River, they should wash the affected area thoroughly with clean water,” said Banyar Khun Aung, adding that further research on the problem is planned. According to local sources, at least 2,000 people displaced by the conflict in Karenni State are sheltering along the Molo Creek. In October of last year, the Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF) reported that the China Investment Mining Company, backed by the Chinese government, has been expanding its rare earth and gold mining activities in the Mong Yawn area of eastern Shan State’s Mong Hsat Township. Mong Yawn is under the joint control of Myanmar’s military junta and the United Wa State Army, which both have to authorise permits for rare earth and gold mining operations in the area. Wastewater from these operations is discharged directly into the Kok River, which, like the Molo Creek, flows into the Salween. The Kok River also passes through Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces in northern Thailand before joining the Mekong River. Since April of last year, Thai authorities have conducted biweekly tests of the Kok River, reporting arsenic and lead levels above safe limits. Local communities and environmental activists have been urging action to safeguard the river. The SHRF report warned that the expansion of mining along the Kok River is a serious threat to border communities in both countries who depend on the river, potentially affecting over one million Thai residents along the Kok River and tens of millions more living downstream along the Mekong River.

Karenni IEC warns of ‘toxic’ levels of arsenic in Salween River and Molo Creek

Wastewater from mines has heavily contained both rivers, according to Karenni State’s resistance-run civilian authority

Subscribe for full access

Clashes for border checkpoints intensify in Myanmar’s southernmost region

The shadowy past—and present—of the Myanmar Times and Frontier

On the road to Namtu

‘Can We Go Home?’: Civilians trapped in Bhamo fighting

Subscribe for full access

Related Articles

Myanmar military to tighten digital surveillance via mandatory phone IMEI registration

Junta airstrikes kill at least seven civilians in Sagaing’s Pale Township

China-invested copper mine in Myanmar set to resume after election-period shutdown

Myanmar students face growing hurdles getting South Korea visas