AML Pollution Leaves Yekepa Farmers Without Farmland | Environment

For farmers in and around Yekepa, Nimba County, environmental pollution is no longer an abstract debate about mining regulations or corporate compliance. It has become a direct threat to their ability to cultivate food, earn income and sustain their families.

Several farmers in the Yekepa area say they have been unable to return to farmland affected by waste associated with the ArcelorMittal Liberia (AML) sewage operation, more than a year after the waste was allegedly deposited in the affected lowland.

The farmers’ plight has now assumed greater significance following the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision to impose a US$400,000 administrative fine on AML and order the company to pay an additional US$100,000 toward environmental monitoring and assessment over pollution linked to its mining operations in Nimba.

Although the EPA’s latest enforcement action specifically follows complaints from communities around Mount Gangra and Mount Yulleton, where investigators documented iron-rich sediment entering water resources and affecting farmland, the action has renewed questions about the broader environmental burden communities living around AML’s operations may be carrying.

For residents whose livelihoods depend heavily on agriculture, the central concern is simple—when farmland and water sources become unsafe or inaccessible, what happens to the families that depend on them?

Benjamin Gbian, acting secretary of an affected group of farmers, told the Daily Observer that pollution affected a swamp in Area ‘Q’, prompting AML to relocate the farmers to another lowland in Area ‘R’.

According to Gbian, the farmers worked in the relocated area from September 2023 to February 2024 under an arrangement in which each farmer was expected to receive US$4 per day for sustainability.

But the project was subsequently closed, leaving some farmers with outstanding wages, he said.

Lead farmer Fayah Siafa said approximately 35 farmers were affected by the relocation.

“We were 35 farmers that were relocated because of the pollution of the lowland, but AML closed the new place they took us, again, the new area was close, leaving in limbo, no place now to make farm and AML is [yet to] disinfect the polluted lowland so we start our farming.”

For these farmers, the consequence is not merely the loss of a piece of land. It is the disruption of an agricultural system that has supported families for decades.

Siafa said the farmers have cultivated rice in the area since 1985, at times producing more than 150 bags of 50-kilogram rice.

That history illustrates what is potentially being lost. A contaminated or inaccessible lowland can mean reduced household income, diminished local food production and greater dependence on purchased food.

Siafa contrasted the present situation with the period when the Liberia-American Mining Company (LAMCO) operated in Yekepa.

“During the days of LAMCO, the pollution was well managed—the waste was disinfected, making the swamp safe enough for cultivation,” he said.

Whether all aspects of the historical comparison can be independently established is a matter for further investigation, but the farmers’ account points to an important question—how effectively are environmental safeguards being maintained as mining operations continue?

The immediate impact of pollution is often measured through visible environmental damage—sediment in rivers, contaminated land, damaged vegetation or waste discharge.

But for communities such as those around Yekepa, the consequences can extend much further.

Agriculture is a source of food, income and social stability. When farmers lose productive land, they may have to travel farther to find alternative farmland, reduce the amount they cultivate or abandon farming altogether.

That can lead to lower household income and food insecurity. Families that previously produced rice for consumption and sale may become dependent on markets where food prices are subject to wider economic pressures.

There is also a potential employment dimension. If alternative farmland is unavailable, younger residents may leave communities in search of work, increasing rural migration and placing additional pressure on already limited urban employment opportunities.

Water pollution introduces another layer of concern.

The report from Yekepa indicates that many residents, including some AML employees, continue to rely on self-dug wells and nearby creeks for domestic activities, while workers of some companies receive bottled water weekly.

This disparity raises a broader question about environmental equity: should the people living closest to industrial operations have access to the same level of safe water protection as employees and corporate facilities?

The EPA’s latest findings demonstrate why that question matters.

The EPA says its August 13 preliminary investigation, launched after a complaint from residents of Bolo Town on August 11, found visible evidence substantially supporting the community’s allegations.

EPA investigators reportedly observed iron-rich, sediment-laden discharges from six points around Mount Gangra and Mount Yulleton entering nearby water resources.

The investigation also identified sediment in the Karn River and 11 creeks named by community members, as well as damage to vegetation and farmland used to cultivate rubber, cocoa, oranges, rice and other crops.

EPA Executive Director Dr. Emmanuel K. Urey Yarkpawolo said the findings were particularly serious because of their direct relationship with community survival.

“These findings are especially serious because the affected water resources and farmlands are directly connected to the health, food security, and economic survival of the surrounding communities.”

The EPA further accused AML of failing to promptly report pollution incidents as required by its environmental permit and of failing to submit its second-quarter 2026 Environmental Monitoring Report within the required period.

After conferences, written communications and a final compliance deadline of August 25, the EPA said the violations had not been satisfactorily addressed.

The resulting action is substantial: US$400,000 payable to the Government of Liberia through the Liberia Revenue Authority, plus US$100,000 to the EPA’s monitoring fund, both within 10 working days.

The Agency also ordered AML to provide safe alternative water, fund a comprehensive environmental assessment and, based on verified findings, compensate affected communities for documented crop and livelihood losses.

That last requirement could be particularly important for farmers.

A fine paid to government does not automatically restore a farmer’s lost harvest, replace contaminated soil or compensate a family for months or years without productive farmland. The EPA’s directive for a comprehensive assessment and possible compensation therefore moves the issue beyond punishment toward environmental restoration and community recovery.

Dr. Yarkpawolo made clear that payment of the US$500,000 does not end AML’s environmental responsibilities.

“Payment of these amounts does not relieve AML of its continuing obligations under the Environmental Protection and Management Law, its environmental permits, or any other applicable laws and regulations.”

He also warned that further monitoring could result in an Environmental Restoration Order requiring additional remedial measures.

The environmental justice, for the residents, cannot be measured only by the size of a fine. It must ultimately be measured by whether polluted water is restored, damaged farmland becomes usable again, affected farmers are compensated, and communities regain confidence in the safety of their environment.

AML’s response will therefore be important.

The Daily Observer contacted AML Communications Manager Winston Daryoue by email on August 18, 2026, seeking the company’s response to the concerns raised by the Yekepa farmers, but no response had been received up to press time.

A long-standing development question for Yekepa

The environmental concerns also come against the backdrop of a much larger development story.

AML has operated in the iron-ore sector for more than two decades, with Yekepa remaining one of the country’s most historically important mining communities.

Yet residents continue to raise concerns about the state of essential infrastructure and services in the concession area, including facilities that have not returned to what residents regard as their former standards.

The issue is particularly sensitive because Yekepa’s mining economy and its surrounding communities are deeply interconnected. The mining industry provides employment and contributes to national economic activity, but communities also bear many of the environmental and social consequences associated with extraction.

The recent seizure of an AML sewage truck at the Sanniquellie checkpoint by citizens reportedly reflected growing community suspicion over the transportation and disposal of waste to Yekepa. Residents alleged that waste disposal had contributed to pollution of lowlands and water sources, allegations AML has denied, maintaining that waste at its Yekepa sewage plant undergoes several stages of disinfection before release.

Those competing accounts underscore the need for independent, transparent environmental testing, rather than relying solely on competing claims.

The emerging situation presents a difficult balance for Liberia.

Mining remains important to employment, government revenue and economic development. The EPA itself acknowledged that concessionaires contribute to infrastructure, employment and public revenue.

But the regulator has also drawn a clear line.

“No investment can be considered sustainable when communities bear avoidable environmental costs or when permit conditions are disregarded,” Dr. Yarkpawolo said.

That principle goes to the heart of the Yekepa farmers’ predicament.

For a farmer who has cultivated rice since 1985, losing access to productive farmland is not simply an environmental inconvenience. It is a loss of livelihood, food production, income and, potentially, a way of life.

The government’s latest action against AML could therefore represent an important shift from regulatory warnings toward stronger environmental enforcement. But its credibility will ultimately depend on what follows the fine.

The farmers do not simply need penalties imposed on a company. They need their farmland assessed, their water protected, their legitimate losses addressed and their livelihoods restored.

And if the EPA’s investigation confirms that mining-related pollution is affecting communities beyond the areas already identified, Liberia’s environmental authorities will face an even larger challenge: ensuring that economic development in Nimba does not come at the expense of the very communities that have lived alongside the country’s iron-ore industry for generations.

As Dr. Yarkpawolo put it:

“Protect the environment, respect the law, comply with your permits, and honor the communities in which you operate.”

For Yekepa’s farmers, the measure of that promise will not be found in a press release or the size of a fine. It will be seen when they can safely return to their farms and once again harvest the food that sustains their families.