A new investigation by CRIIRAD, the independent French radiation laboratory, has found high levels of radioactivity around the now abandoned Areva-owned uranium mine site in Gabon, Africa. According to CRIIRAD, the mine produced 7.5 million metric tonnes of radioactive silt of which two million tonnes was dumped in a river. CRIIRAD conducted an initial study in Gabon but returned in 2009 to find that mine workers' housing was built with radioactive materials. CRIIRAD stated that "local populations have been unwittingly doses of radiation that are totally unjustified."