Manila to file charges against Marcopper
Manila to file charges against Marcopper
MANILA (Reuter): Philippine officials said yesterday they were filing criminal charges against executives of Marcopper and threatened to blacklist the partly Canadian-owned mine firm after its waste swamped a 25-kilometer long river.
Environment Secretary Victor Ramos released initial findings of an inquiry board saying Marcopper had violated environmental safety rules by spilling tons of waste into the Boac river on central Marindugue island.
He told a news conference he had approved the board's recommendation to file criminal charges against senior officials of the company, 40 percent owned by Canada's Placer Dome.
The charges would be sent to the Justice Department by Thursday, he said. The department will decide whether the charges should go to court or be dismissed.
A spokesman for Marcopper said what happened was an accident and the company should not be held criminally liable.
Marcopper's copper ore mill in Marindugue, 160 kilometers south of Manila, has a milling capacity of 30,000 tons of ore a day. The firm has been operating here for 27 years.
The government has suspended the company's operations in the area following the spillage, which has also sparked public demands for the prosecution of environment officials.
Ramos, not related to President Fidel Ramos, told Reuters by telephone he had also written to Marcopper telling the firm to explain why its present mining licence should not be canceled. "We're giving them due process," he said.
"I have also ordered my mines director not to process any application for exploration or development from Marcopper anywhere in the country," Ramos told Reuters.
This would apply to pending and future applications for licences from the firm and would be tantamount to "blacklisting" the firm, he said.
Ramos said the charges would involve "about five" Marcopper officials, including its resident manager.
Marindugue provincial governor Jose Carrion said the spillage, which started on March 24, had affected the entire length of the river, isolating about 600 families. The provincial legislature has also threatened to file damage suits.
Ted Gabor, Marcopper vice-president for human resources and legal affairs, said the firm had not done anything wrong and was ready to defend itself against any charges.
Marcopper has denied allegations the spillage was toxic.
"We believe that we are not criminally negligent or criminally liable for what happened. We have always maintained, based on our findings, that what happened at the mine was an accident," Gabor said.
Gabor said he was not aware of Ramos's order to the bureau of mines director not to act on any pending or future Marcopper applications for exploration permits, adding it was "an internal matter" within the environmental department.
"They have thrown the whole kitchen at us... We will defend ourselves."
The inquiry board, in its preliminary report released by Ramos, said penalties for violation of the pollution law, the mining act and the water code included fines and jail terms of up to six years for each transgression.
The water code penalizes acts polluting water supply sources. If the offense is committed by a corporation, the penalty shall be imposed upon its president, general manager and other guilty officers, the report said.
If the offender is a foreigner, he shall be deported upon serving his sentence, it added.