Crackdowns on illegal mining in Colombian Amazon not enough

Mercury is used in the process to extract the gold from the dredged sludge, and it ends up contaminating the soil and water. In 2014, researchers found that thirty percent of fish in the area had levels of mercury above the national standard, according to the Amazon Institute of Scientific Investigation (SINCHI), propelling the heavy metal up along the food chain. This especially impacts the indigenous communities living on the riverbanks, for whom locally caught fish is a dietary staple.
read more... https://news.mongabay.com/2017/10/crackdowns-on-illegal-mining-in-the-colombian-amazon-alone-cant-solve-problem/