March 24,
2008
BELOW: a news
article from Guatemala about how Goldcorp
Inc. is about to release liquid waste from its open pit, cyanide leeching gold
mine, into the local river system. It is widely believed the
waste contains metal residues that can contaminate the
You will
also find, way below, a partial list of the investors in and beneficiaries of
Goldcorp.
WHAT
TO DO? See
below.
Dawn Paley,
a Canadian writer and activist, is on a Rights Action speaking tour right now in
Canada (Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver, Whitehorse) and north-west USA (Seattle to
Portland), talking about North American mining companies – including Goldcorp
Inc. – in Central America. She can be reached at: dawnpaley@gmail.com. For her
schedule: info@rightsaction.org.
July 7-12,
Rights Action is leading a delegation to
To get
on-off this elist: info@rightsaction.org
***
WITH
THE MARLIN MINE (owned by Goldcorp Inc.) ABOUT TO DISCHARGE WATER FROM ITS
TAILINGS DAM, THERE ARE FEARS THAT MINERAL WASTE WILL POLLUTE THE
RIVERS
by Alberto
Ramírez, Prensa Libre, Guatemala
(translated for Rights Action by Rosalind Gill, RGill@glendon.yorku.ca]
Social
organizations have expressed their concern that the Marlin Mine [Goldcorp Inc.]
is about to discharge liquid waste that is a by-product of gold extraction in
According to María Eugenio Solís, a lawyer for the MadreSelva
Collective, there is concern, because the water in the tailings dam, where
mining waste materials accumulate, is a murky green colour. If this water is
discharged, it will contaminate the
Solís indicated that
the forest near the mine has already been contaminated by cyanide which is
carried on the wind and burns the leaves on the trees.
According to
Vinicio López, Coordinator of the Pastoral Commission Peace and Ecology, what is
most alarming is that the exact content of these waste materials is unknown.
Many local communities use the water in the rivers contaminated by this waste,
which means that the health of thousands of people is affected.
“We are
concerned that the Marlin Mine uses a large quantity of water, for which it does
not pay. Then it puts the water back into the rivers and pollutes them. It is a
matter of public health and environmental impunity.” said López.
CONTROL
OF THE WATER
Eugenia Castra, Director of Environmental Management,
Ministry of the Environment, said that before any discharge of tailings water is
carried out, this office should analyse the quality of the water and the level
of metal residues it contains.
She reiterated that the commission she is
in charge of had not been allowed to take samples of the water in the tailings
dam.
She further added that the company had agreed to adhere to the law
that states that no discharge can be made from the dam without authorization
from the Department of the Environment.
Attempts were made to telephone
executives of [Goldcorp’s wholly owned subsidiary] Montana Exploradora, the
owners of the mine, but there was no answer.
Social organizations fear
that the water from the tailings dam will be discharged (see photo) before the
basin of the
THE ROOTS OF SOCIAL
DISCONTENT
The Marlin Mine began operating in 2005.
• In 2006,
the Water Tribunal condemned the Government of Guatemala for authorizing metal
mining.
• In January 2007, the Catholic Church expressed concerns regarding
pollution caused by Marlin.
• In December 2007, the government of Oscar
Berger declared metal mining to be in the national
interest.
****
WHAT
TO DO: info@rightsaction.org, www.rightsaction.org
EDUCATIONAL
DELEGATION
From
July7-12, Rights Action is leading an educational delegation to Honduras to
investigate the territorial and human rights struggles of Indigenous/Garifuna
peoples and community-based resistance to the environmental and economic harms
and human rights violations being caused by Goldcorp Inc’s open pit, cyanide
leeching mine. If interested: info@rightsaction.org.
3rd
SOCIAL FORUM OF THE
Form your
own group and/ or join a Rights Action delegation to come to
RIGHTS
ACTION
Based in
Guatemala, Rights Action (with tax-deductible legal status in Canada and USA)
funds and works with community-based development, environment and human rights
organizations in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and southern Mexico (Oaxaca,
Chiapas); and educates about and is involved in activism related to global
development, environmental and human rights
struggles.
TO
MAKE TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS for
indigenous and community-based organizations that are working for justice and to
end impunity, and to implement their own development, human rights and
environment projects, make check payable to "Rights Action" and mail to: UNITED
STATES: Box 50887, Washington DC, 20091-0887; CANADA: 422 Parliament
St, Box 82552, Toronto ON, M5A 4N8. CREDIT-CARD DONATIONS: www.rightsaction.org.
JOIN: Rights
Action’s listserv and newsletter lists.
CREATE YOUR
OWN E-MAIL LIST: and re-distribute this and other
information.
LISTEN: to
the www.democracynow.org news program
every day.
READ:
Eduardo Galeano’s “Open Veins of Latin America”; Naomi Klein’s “The Shock
Doctrine”; Paolo Freire’s “Pedagogy of the
Oppressed”.
SMILE: And
live to make another world is possible, everyday.
* * * * * *
*
CONNECTING
THE DOTS BETWEEN THE GLOBAL
MINING & INVESTMENT INDUSTRY … and … environmental and economic harms and
human rights violations caused by global mining companies and
investors.
North American mining and
investors industries are sometimes causing great environmental destruction,
undermining local economies and violating human rights. Rights Action
sends out this information that has been pieced together, based in part on work
done by www.miningwatch.ca. This
is not a complete list of investors and
beneficiaries.
PENSION
FUND HOLDINGS IN GOLDCORP AS OF MARCH, 2008
(Comprised by Dawn Paley.
Source: Stockwatch.com)
$320,606,100. OMERS
ADMINISTRATION CORP. Represents public sector workers as well as unionized
workers in
$222,197,310.
ONTARIO TEACHERS PENSION PLAN BOARD,
http://www.otpp.com/web/website.nsf/web/home.
$293,203,215.
CANADA PENSION PLAN INVESTMENT BOARD,
http://www.cppib.ca.
$230,990,895.
BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT CORP, http://www.bcimc.com.
Represents public sector workers in
OTHER
$165,200,000.
Québec Pension Plan (RRQ), Annual Report, 2006.
Alberta Teachers’
Retirement Fund: $4,446,000 (Annual Report, 2006),
http://www.atrf.com/home/default.aspx.
Ethical Funds Company
(Mutual Fund), www.ethicalfunds.com, t:
604.714.3833.
BENEFICIARIES
GOLDCORP CEO Ian Telfer’s
2006 payday worth $23-million. (Globe and Mail, April 4,
2007)
Goldcorp Inc. Chairman
Ian Telfer donated $25 million to the
WHAT
TO DO
ACT for the Earth has
developed campaign tools for pension fund activism. Pensions for Peace:
http://www.actfortheearth.org/ (Click on ‘Pensions for Peace’) Learn about ACT
for the Earth’s campaign for peaceful pensions, access petitions and sample
union resolutions.
Within your own unions,
ask your representatives to be put in contact with your union fund managers.
The union pension fund structure is often that there is one meeting a year
to decide how to invest funds. Go to Pensions at Work: http://www.pensionsatwork.ca.
This project responds to a call from the trade union movement for more
research and educational resources to assist union pension trustees, activists
and pension staff in shaping a union pension
agenda.
COAT (Coalition to Oppose
the Arms Trade) has an online petition against CPP investments in war: http://coat.openconcept.ca/. Sign
this petition to urge the government to stop the CPP from investing in
businesses that profit from war and demand that they divest
now!