NewsWhore
10-22-2010, 05:30 PM
El Caribe reports today on the damage that mining has caused to the previously fertile farming areas in Bonao and La Vega. Environmentalists and farmers point to the craters that are evidence of what they describe as "an incurable cancer".
Environment Minister Jaime David Fernandez Mirabal acknowledges: "That is not recoverable. One would have to discuss this from a philosophical and ethical viewpoint. When you take something out that can't be recovered, the mountains that are toppled cannot be recovered," he told El Caribe reporters.
He said that the renewal of the environmental permit for Falconbridge to return to operation in February establishes that in the same way they extract minerals they have to reforest and recover the mined areas. The mines in La Vega and Bonao have gold, ferronickel, copper, manganese and other non-declared minerals.
Meanwhile, farmers say that mining threatens humans, vegetation and animals. They tell the story of a dog in Loma Peguero that entered an area where trucks were unloading waste from a mineral exploitation and "disintegrated, like a bubble in the air".
They say that when the plant was in operation it exuded toxic waste and lit up the skies of Bonao even on the darkest nights, and the light could be seen as far away as Cotui. "It is a cancer that has damaged our hills, the radiation has damaged the avocado plantations, poisoned the rivers and damaged the rice," said farming leader Amelia Clemente.
She and ecologist Rafael Jimenez Aba told El Caribe that after the mine started operations in the area, more than 10 types of trees including anacahuita, pomo, caco and Jaiba Cirica have disappeared. She said that the barrancoli (broad-billed tody) and several types of fish have also vanished.
"What has happened after Falconbridge makes one want to cry. Several springs and small rivers also disappeared, and the La Peguera waterfalls."
She said that reforestation is a slow process, because the trees planted by Falconbridge are weak.
They commented that Rio Canabon, where there used to be fishing and irrigation, now looks like any polluted urban gully.
Other communities affected are Penalo, Loma Caribe and Loma La Minita.
"Because of the ecological crime, Bonao is no longer the "town of the hortensias". Bonao is the area in the country with the largest incidence of thyroid cancer, skin damage, respiratory problems and damage to human sex organs, and there is no other reason more powerful than the pollution," said Rafael Jimenez Aba.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#9)
Environment Minister Jaime David Fernandez Mirabal acknowledges: "That is not recoverable. One would have to discuss this from a philosophical and ethical viewpoint. When you take something out that can't be recovered, the mountains that are toppled cannot be recovered," he told El Caribe reporters.
He said that the renewal of the environmental permit for Falconbridge to return to operation in February establishes that in the same way they extract minerals they have to reforest and recover the mined areas. The mines in La Vega and Bonao have gold, ferronickel, copper, manganese and other non-declared minerals.
Meanwhile, farmers say that mining threatens humans, vegetation and animals. They tell the story of a dog in Loma Peguero that entered an area where trucks were unloading waste from a mineral exploitation and "disintegrated, like a bubble in the air".
They say that when the plant was in operation it exuded toxic waste and lit up the skies of Bonao even on the darkest nights, and the light could be seen as far away as Cotui. "It is a cancer that has damaged our hills, the radiation has damaged the avocado plantations, poisoned the rivers and damaged the rice," said farming leader Amelia Clemente.
She and ecologist Rafael Jimenez Aba told El Caribe that after the mine started operations in the area, more than 10 types of trees including anacahuita, pomo, caco and Jaiba Cirica have disappeared. She said that the barrancoli (broad-billed tody) and several types of fish have also vanished.
"What has happened after Falconbridge makes one want to cry. Several springs and small rivers also disappeared, and the La Peguera waterfalls."
She said that reforestation is a slow process, because the trees planted by Falconbridge are weak.
They commented that Rio Canabon, where there used to be fishing and irrigation, now looks like any polluted urban gully.
Other communities affected are Penalo, Loma Caribe and Loma La Minita.
"Because of the ecological crime, Bonao is no longer the "town of the hortensias". Bonao is the area in the country with the largest incidence of thyroid cancer, skin damage, respiratory problems and damage to human sex organs, and there is no other reason more powerful than the pollution," said Rafael Jimenez Aba.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#9)