...Centerra-KOC [Kumtor Operating Company]...Mine operations...are contaminating local ground and surface waters by releasing elevated concentrations of...contaminants (uranium, arsenic, aluminum, iron, copper, molybdenum, manganese, nickel, zinc, chloride, sulfate, nitrate, ammonia, cyanides) into the environment...KOC monitoring and Kyrgyz Commission (2011) water quality data show that contaminants are being released into the environment from mine facilities. Contamination sources include: natural rock contaminants from the waste rock, open pit walls and floor, tailings impoundment...and fuels and greases...process chemical spills, explosives, antifreeze and other chemicals...The Kumtor operations use roughly 4.38 billion liters of water per year, which increases the competition for water in these arid regions with other downstream users. Much of this water has degraded water quality once it returns to the hydrogeologic system...Kumtor uses roughly 8 to 10 tons per day of cyanide to remove gold and silver from the ores...KOC monitoring data are totally inadequate to define the specific forms of cyanide that remain in the tailings and which are being released into the environment...The tailings impoundment, the Petrov Lake dam and waste rock piles are unstable as they sit on glacial deposits and permafrost, which is now melting. Any significant seismic event could cause a catastrophic collapse of these materials, especially when they are water-saturated.