Gold mining requires mercury and cyanide, chemical substances whose use in small quantities causes major pollution. Local residents, whether they work in gold mining or not, end up with high doses of mercury in their bodies.
Faced with this situation, several communities came together and convinced the Constitutional Court to hand down Sentence T-622/16, an unprecedented verdict in Colombia, recognizing the Atrato River as a subject of rights. The sentence forces several entities to protect and clean up the river. The ruling urges the Ministry of National Defense to neutralize and eradicate illegal mining in the Atrato River and its tributaries.
“The sentence says that 21 of the 23 species of fish in the Atrato River are contaminated with mercury and unsuitable for human consumption,” Maj. López said. “Likewise, several studies by CODECHOCÓ [Autonomous Regional Corporation for Sustainable Development of Chocó], the environmental agency of the department of Chocó, and several universities determined that the percentage of mercury in people who have regular contact with the river in this area is very high and dangerous for humans.”
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