Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
San Salvador (Agenzia Fides) – The social organizations in the campaign “I Reject Metal Mining,” including Caritas El Salvador, have presented a scientific study showing the impact that metal mining would have on health and on the environment if the permissions underway for mining companies are approved.
According to Florian Erzinger, who directed the study, the acid drainage from the mines cannot be avoided, even by the methods used in so-called “environment-safe mining,” and the waters adjacent to the mines would become contaminated with concentrations of cyanide, mercury, and denser metals such as arsenic, led, zinc, and aluminum. These concentrations surpass the maximum quantity permitted not only for drinking water, but also for aquatic systems.
In addition, the food products, especially those from the Lempa Valley, such as vegetables, meat, and milk, would all hold concentrated amounts of toxic substances.
According to the study, the ricks of contamination from cyanide, arsenic, and dense metals, would rise to 60% in the national territory, reaching 4 million people in the country.
The study is also based on the experiences observed in other countries, which have shown negative results. It also considers the seismic nature of El Salvador, which would be a high-risk factor and could provoke tragedies that would lead to the breaking of the dams holding the toxic waters from the mines. There are also the environmental and socio-demographic conditions of El Salvador that make the mining activity inconvenient, because of the heat and the droughts, the rain that provokes the decomposition of minerals and the oxidation of dense metals, leading to a greater acid drainage. El Salvador also has a great number of people living in all the areas of the country (much more in the other countries of the Americas or in Europe). The areas that would be most directly contaminated are populated or used for agriculture and fishing. Therefore, it would be impossible to guarantee that the population were not affected.
Thus, the campaign “I Reject Metal Mining,” with the current evidence seen in other countries and supported by the study done by Erzinger, supports the appeal being made by other organizations for some time now: mining activity implies a high cost with little profit, both on a community level and on a national level. “Without a doubt, it would be more of a detriment than a benefit to El Salvador's economy,” Caritas El Salvador concluded. (RG) (Agenzia Fides 26/11/2008)
