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Why should you care if mine tailings spill?

Voltaire Tupaz

SUMMARY

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What are the environmental risks of mining? How can they be addressed? Using the hashtag #WhyMining, netizens discuss about the latest mine waste spill that happened in Benguet.

#WHYMINING. Netizens discuss on Twitter about environmental destruction caused by mining and how to address it.

MANILA, Philippines – Representatives from the “poster boy” of the advocates of responsible mining and critics of the extractive industry faced off on Twitter following recent tailings leak incidents in Benguet province.  

Using the hashtag #WhyMining, the online discussion on mining and the environment hosted by Rappler trended locally on Twitter on Friday, September 7.

The Twitter-based conversation entitled “If a mine spills, why should I care?” took off from the weather-challenged waste spillage at the Padcal mine’s tailings pond of Philex Mining Corp, the country’s largest mining company.

The incidents of mine leaks happened amid a porous political and business environment in the Philippines. Industry players and environmental and interest groups are currently in consultation meetings before the Aquino government finalizes its rules and regulations this September on the recently released Executive Order 79, which sets the policy on mining activities.  

Sins of past

The Padcal incident spilled nearly 5 million cubic meters of sediments from the only operating tailings pond of Philex in Benguet province. 

Amid intense rainfall due to typhoons and monsoon rain in August, the tailings pond facility leaked at least 4 times in just one month. 

The spill cast another shadow on a industry that has been haunted by episodes of mining disasters in the country.


In March 1996, the country’s worst mining disaster occurred in the province of Marinduque when Marcopper Mining Corp.’s open pit fractured, leaking nearly 3 million cubic meters of mine tailings into the 26-kilometer Boac River.

About a decade after, catastrophic toxic spills in the province of Albay were unleashed from the Lafayette Mining Company’s Rapu-Rapu Polymetallic Project, considered the biggest mining operation at that time.

It took several days and published dramatic pictures of the effects of these spills before these reached national consciousness.    

The Padcal incident, though seemingly better communicated than the previous Marcopper and Rapu-Rapu incidents, is the latest in the list.  


Kalikasan Partylist, an environmentalist interest group which participated in the Twitter discussion, called the Padcal spillage a disaster.


Investigating the spill

During the Twitter discussion, a Philex officer explained the several measures it has taken to address the spillage and its effects. 




Philex also claimed it designed an ecosystems approach to aquatic, terrestrial and social rehabilation of the affected area. 

After Philex reported the leakage, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) issued to Philex a cease operation order.

But Twitter user Phillip Fullon, head of policy review and research at the Office of the Presidential Adviser for Environmental Protection, suggested the government should cancel other permits of the mining company if it cannot address the disaster.


The MGB is yet to release next week the result of the investigation it conducted in the aftermath of the spill. It has already dispatched two teams to ascertain the environmental impact and to determine civil and criminal liabilities of Philex.

According to Philex, bad weather in the area slowed down the probe being conducted by engineers & tailings dam experts.

But Kalikasan Partylist distrusted the investigation saying that it will conduct its own investigation in partnership with local stakeholders.


[We are planning alongside the Cordillera Peoples Alliance to mount an investigation. Based on MGB’s statements regarding the issue, we can’t expect impartiality. ‪#WhyMining]‬

However, Twitter user JP Alipio, executive director of Cordillera Conservation Trust, praised Philex for at least being transparent about the spill.


Cost of destruction

Alipio, however, raised the issue of the value of damages Philex should pay, arguing that polluter fees are grossly undervalued and do not reflect ecological costs.



Under the Mining Act of 1995, the mining company could be fined at least P325 million for the nearly 5 million cubic meters of sediments that spilled.

Other Twitter users questioned how the economic benefits of mining do not trickle down to communities hosting mining companies.

Diane Estephanie, a forester, raised her perceived inequality in the economic benefits of mining.


Rod Galicham, Philippine District Manager of President Al Gore’s The Climate Reality Project, stressed that the mining sector has the highest poverty incidence (48.7%) among sectors in the country.


Is ‘responsible mining’ possible?

Meanwhile, netizens debate on long term solutions, particularly on what policy to adopt after the Philex mine waste spill. 


 

 



 

– Rappler.com

For the existing mining contracts in the Philippines, view this #WhyMining map.

How does mining affect you? Are you pro or against mining? Engage, discuss & take a stand! Visit Rappler’s #WhyMining microsite for the latest stories on issues affecting the mining sector. Join the conversation by emailing whymining@rappler.com your views on the issue.

For other views on mining, read:

Yes to Mining No to Mining

More on #WhyMining:


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