The cyanide left by Commerce Group’s earlier activities still covers the
dried silt and rocks of their abandoned operation, and the artesian
miners now illegally working the tunnels warn of arsenic contamination
in parts of the mine. The pollution from the company’s earlier
operations played a role in swinging public opinion against mining: The
Rio San Sebastian which flows from the site is laced with cyanide and
affected by acid mine drainage — a process in which the sulphuric acid
released by disturbed rock causes dangerous concentrations of heavy
metals to be secreted in streams and rivers.
http://mondediplo.com/blogs/el-salvador-violence-and-impunity
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