RP probes mine tailings catastrophe
RP probes mine tailings catastrophe
By Dario B. Agnote
MANILA (Kyodo): Environmentalists first sounded the warning more than a decade ago but it went largely unheeded.
Today, the Philippine government is trying to determine the extent of a pollution catastrophe that has already affected some 15,000 peasants in Marinduque, an island province 165 kilometers southeast of Manila, and is likely to get bigger.
Environmentalists and the government say the culprit is Marcopper Mining Corp., which is believed to have been dumping mine tailings into Calancan Bay since 1975, plus tons of waste discharge into the Boac River, poisoning first the marine life and then the people.
The state government more than a week ago shut down the company's operations, and a government board Monday recommended the filing of administrative, civil and criminal actions against the company and its officers.
The Boac River is now virtually dead. Its water -- once clear -- has turned gray and sticky, like clay.
Tests conducted by the Poison Control Center said river water samples show the presence of toxic elements such as cadmium, zinc, mercury, copper and lead.
The spillage has contaminated not only the 25-kilometer river but the water supply as well, forcing villagers to drink coconut water.
At least four people, including a 7-year-old boy, have been diagnosed with gastroenteritis after eating fish from the river. Others have complained of headaches, stomachaches and respiratory ailments.
Most of the patients were from seven villages rendered inaccessible by the mine tailings. Local health workers say the villagers have alarming concentrations of lead in their blood.
Mineral products are among the Philippines' leading exports. And Marcopper -- a big employer, foreign exchange earner and taxpayer -- is one of the biggest players in the industry.
But unlike other mineral exporting countries, there is no law in the Philippines which requires mining companies to rehabilitate exhausted mines. There are also no agencies to ensure that mining companies comply with environmental rules.
Amando Doronila, a columnist of the influential English- language daily Philippine Daily Inquirer, recently wrote, "The key words in this country are exploit and plunder."
"There's a point where the costs of environmental damage catch up with the economic gains. That point was reached when the Boac River flooded from the dumping of mineral waste disgorged by Marcopper's mine.
"The costs have become unacceptable to local people, whose villages have been marooned, and where marine resources have been poisoned by the waste," he said.
The Marcopper case is the perfect example of a major dilemma that confronts a struggling economy such as the Philippines -- revenue generation versus resource protection. Often, the need for money prevails over the desire to preserve the environment.
Before the recent shutdown, Marcopper, 40 percent of which is owned by Placer Dome of Canada, produced 30,000 tons of ore a day. The company employs 900 people, provides electricity and pays some 4 to 5 million pesos in real estate taxes every year.
In 1982, reports say, then President Ferdinand Marcos granted Marcopper's request to continue unrestricted disposal of mine tailings.
The Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources put a stop to the practice when the administration of Corazon Aquino came to power.
Ironically, the Aquino administration later reversed the department order for Marcopper to stop dumping tailings into the sea. The reason -- the company was simply made to deposit 30,000 pesos daily into a rehabilitation fund for Calancan Bay.
Like most observers of current events in the country, Doronila predicts the Marinduque incident will not be the last disaster arising the constant battle between economic gain and environmental preservation.
"Many more disasters are waiting in the wings to happen," he says.