The newspapers said it was a ‘leak’. But in reality, according to local residents, Philex attempted to plug the ‘leak’ with an old truck. The truck went through the ‘leak’ hole and ended up somewhere else outside the lake. That was how ‘small’ the leak was. The newspaper leak was even smaller. Such band-aid news blackouts from powerful forces never work. Eventually, truth prevails from local residents.
Ocular inspection revealed that the tailings dam lake has shrunk by about half, perhaps even more. The dam collapse is not dramatic because it is invisible, occurring at the bottom of the dam and flowing dangerously into the aquifer or underground rivers, which will be beyond rehabilitation. Plugging the leak may be impossible at this point. At this rate, if the ‘leak’ is not plugged, the entire tailings dam may flow out and vanish completely. Half of the dam leaked out rapidly in a matter of weeks.
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