The mine had a huge environmental impact. The Natividad mine opened in 2002. Just four years later, in 2006, water problems grew so bad around the mine that the federal prosecutor for environmental protection ordered all work at the mine to stop. Community leaders accused the mine of having damaged the aquifers on which they depend and that 13 springs disappeared. "A community without water has no life on which future generations can depend," a communal statement declared.
Water in the local river runs yellow and has a terrible smell, according to Capulalpam residents. The current Communal Welfare Secretary, Javier Garcia Juarez, says that in 2011 some of the dams holding back ponds of toxic residue from earlier mine operations collapsed. Tons of waste contaminated communal land belonging to the town and trees in the local forest were stained gray with the chemicals that had been used to separate gold and silver from the ore extracted from the mine.
No comments:
Post a Comment