The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has shut down a mining site in the Mpohor District of the Western Region allegedly linked to former District Chief Executive (DCE), Asaah Mensah, and another operator, Obed Osei.
The clampdown, which took place on Monday, May 18, forms part of a nationwide exercise by the EPA to enforce environmental regulations and crack down on illegal mining activities.
Officials from the EPA said the operators, working under the name JKCem I AM Gold, were carrying out small-scale mining without the required environmental permit. The site was also found to have engaged foreign nationals, mainly Chinese, in operations reserved exclusively for Ghanaians under the country’s mining laws.
Leading the inspection team, the Deputy Director of Mining at the EPA, Harrison Afful, said the operation violated several environmental and mining regulations.
“We could count several Chinese nationals on site. They are the operators… The application they submitted was for a small-scale mining operation. The law doesn’t allow foreign nationals to undertake small-scale mining operations. Per what we have seen today, the scope of the project goes beyond small-scale mining,” he stated.
Mr Afful disclosed that untreated underground water from the mining pit was being discharged directly into the open environment — an act he described as a serious environmental offence that poses risks to nearby water bodies, farmlands, and surrounding communities.
He added that preliminary findings suggested the actual scale of operations exceeded what is permitted for small-scale mining.
The EPA has warned that the operators will face the full rigours of the law for the alleged infractions. The agency pledged to continue collaborating with other state security and regulatory institutions to ensure compliance in the mining sector.