For the umpteenth time, a state agency has come to the defense of mining companies operating in the country. The latest to do so is the Minerals Commission which on Tuesday strongly protested suggestions by a research of the Cape Coast- based Centre for Environmental Impact Analysis (CEIA) that mining activities were responsible for the prevalence of various cancers in two districts of the Western Region where mining is popular.
The CEIA report, titled "Human Health Assessment and Epidemiological Studies from Exposure to Toxic Chemicals in Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality, Prestea Huni Valley District and Cape Coast Metropolis", catalogues a number of diseases arising from the contamination of water and food sources with toxic chemicals usually associated with mining, and names cancer as the lead anomaly.
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