Below, a news article – in English and Spanish – about how cattle and even vultures are dying due to pollution probably coming from Goldcorp Inc’s “San Martin” mine in Honduras
(elHeraldo newspaper, March 27, 2009)
WHAT TO DO: see below
To get on/ off Rights Action's email list: http://www.rightsaction.org/lists/?p=subscribe&id=3
* * * * * * *
ALLEGED GOLD-MINING POLLUTION
KILLS CATTLE & VULTURES IN THE SIRIA VALLEY (HONDURAS)
http://www.elheraldo.hn/Sintesis/Lo-mas-leido/Ediciones/2009/03/27/Noticias/Supuesta-contaminacion-acaba-con-ganado-en-Siria
(Translated to English for Rights Action by Rosalind Gill, from the elheraldo newspaper in Honduras, diario@elheraldo.hn, March 27, 2009)
LOCAL VILLAGERS CONFIRM THAT 12 HEAD OF CATTLE DIED FROM DRINKING POLLUTED WATER IN THE GUANIJIQUIL STREAM. CESCCO TAKES SAMPLES TO DETERMINE CAUSES OF THE POLLUTION
Death has passed through the Siria Valley, leaving devastation, a feeling of powerlessness, anguish and confusion in its wake. Local communities report that sixteen cows have died over the last few days in El Pedernal. They attribute the deaths to the pollution of the Guanijiquil stream, which has its headwaters near the Goldcorp Inc. (Entremares) mining operations.
Hildebrando Centeno, one of the most affected people, lost 12 head of cattle in 22 days. The last three cows died last Wednesday afternoon. A single cow is worth about twenty thousand lempiras. “The problem we are confronting is devastating, because losing the cattle means losing a source of food for our children - this is not a good thing”, said Centeno. Centeno says that his cattle died after drinking water from the stream. Around 20 or 30 minutes after they drank it, they began to lose their footing, and then they died.
According to local community members, after drinking the water, the animals “blew up” and discharged from their bodies a liquid that was green from the high level of water pollution.
Reporters from EL HERALDO who went to the area confirmed that scavenger birds that fed on the last three dead cows became dazed and then died. (see photos)
(elHeraldo,March 27, 2009)
Hildebrando Centeno is very concerned about the situation. He has asked executives of the mining company [Goldcorp Inc. of Canada, through it subsidiary Entremares S.A. in Honduras] to look into their own conscience and take responsibility for the damage they are causing in the local communities.
“I am asking them to clean up the water that our cattle consume and to pay for the damage they have caused,” he said.
CESCCO COMMITTEE
Authorities from the Honduras Natural Resources and Environment Secretariat (Serna) sent a committee from the National Research Centre for Pollution Control (CESCCO) to take samples of the water and perform an analysis to determine if the water does indeed contain heavy metals such as sulphur, cyanide, lead and potassium, amongst others, that are harmful to human and animal organisms.
Personnel from Cártias, a Catholic organization that has led the struggle against the alleged pollution in the Siria Valley, worked with the CESCCO committee.
José Matías Arteaga, the head of the patronato of the community, states that there are people who have suffered skin damage but absolutely nothing has been done about the problem.
Pedro Rodolfo Arteaga, a member of the local Environmental Committee, said that his organization has denounced the existence of pollution in local communities, caused by the fact that the mining company [Goldcorp Inc/Entremares Inc.] has polluted the Agua Tibia, Guanijiquil y Casitas streams, that flow beneath the mine.
“We have detected that the ground water has been polluted with toxins such as cyanide and analysis has detected the presence in the area of heavy metals such as arsenic, mercury, lead, cadmium and others”, he said.
Pedro Landa, a representative of Cáritas, said that there have been irregularities as far as the environment is concerned and nothing has been done about this. “This could cause serious health problems in the local communities”, said Landa. “We are concerned because Cristian Roldán has always said that there is no pollution in the area, but studies indicate that this is not true”, he said.
THE MINING COMPANY WILL WAIT FOR THE RESULTS OF THE ANALYSIS
Entremares employees visited the area where the cattle died. However, Cristian Roldán, chief fireman with Entremares, said that he could not comment on the situation to EL HERALDO, as that should be left to the company press agent.
However, Roldán did speak with a group of local community members and told them that Entremares would wait to receive the results of the analysis before providing any compensation. “We cannot accept this accusation of water pollution. We are convinced that the water can be consumed by cattle”, said Roldán. He added that other livestock that drink the same water have remained healthy. “We are prepared to hire veterinarians to carry out an analysis to determine what caused the death of the cattle”, he added.
= = =
SUPUESTA CONTAMINACIÓN ACABA CON GANADO EN SIRIA
http://www.elheraldo.hn/Sintesis/Lo-mas-leido/Ediciones/2009/03/27/Noticias/Supuesta-contaminacion-acaba-con-ganado-en-Siria
(Redacción: diario@elheraldo.hn, 27 de marzo de 2009)
POBLADORES AFIRMAN QUE 12 CABEZAS DE GANADO HAN MUERTO EN 22 DÍAS A CAUSA DE LA CONTAMINACIÓN EN LAS AGUAS DE LA QUEBRADA GUANIJIQUIL. CESCCO LEVANTA MUESTRAS PARA DETERMINAR CAUSAS
.jpg)
(elHeraldo, 27 de marzo de 2009)
La muerte ha pasado por el valle de Siria y en su trayecto ha dejado consternación, impotencia, angustia y confusión. En los últimos días, en la comunidad de El Pedernal han muerto 16 vacas, según los pobladores, debido a la contaminación del agua de la quebrada El Guanijiquil, que nace en las cercanías de las instalaciones de la minera Entremares [Goldcorp Inc, de Canada].
Hildebrando Centeno es uno de los más afectados, pues solo en los últimos 22 días ha perdido 12 cabezas de ganado. Los últimos tres animales fallecieron fueron el pasado miércoles en horas de la tarde. Cada vaca tiene un costo aproximado de veinte mil lempiras.
“Este problema que estamos enfrentando me tiene decepcionado porque perder los animales, que es de donde se le da la alimentación a los hijos, no es cosa buena” aseguró Centeno. Contó que su ganado falleció debido a que llegaron a la quebrada a beber agua y pasados 20 ó 30 minutos empezaron a desequilibrarse, para luego morir.
Además de eso, lo pobladores aseguraron que a los pocos minutos se “inflaron” y emanó de los cuerpos un líquido color verde provocado por el alto grado de contaminación que tiene el agua.
Un equipo de EL HERALDO se desplazó hasta la zona y constató que las aves de rapiña que devoraban a las últimas tres vacas reportadas fallecidas comenzaron a atolondrarse hasta finalmente fallecer, tal y como lo demuestran las imágenes.
.jpg)
(elHeraldo, 27 de marzo de 2009)
Con una voz que denota preocupación, don Hildebrando demanda de los ejecutivos de la compañía minera [Goldcorp Inc., de Canada, a traves de su subsidiaria Entremares S.A. en Honduras] de que se pongan la mano en la conciencia y que se hagan responsables de los daños que están causando en las diferentes comunidades.
“Lo que yo pido es que se comprometan a sanear el agua que consumen los animales y que paguen los daños que han ocasionado”, dijo.
COMISIÓN
Ante esa problemática, las autoridades de la secretaría de Recursos Naturales y Ambiente (Serna), a través del Centro de Estudios y Control de Contaminantes (Cescco), envió una comisión a tomar muestras de agua para realizar un estudio y, a través de él, determinar si realmente el agua contiene metales pesados como: azufre, cianuro, plomo y potasio, entre otros, que son los que causan daños al organismo de los animales o las personas.
A la comisión de Cescco se sumó personal de Caritas, organización de la Iglesia Católica que ha liderado la lucha en contra de la supuesta contaminación en el valle de Siria.
José Matías Arteaga es el presidente del patronato de la comunidad y comentó que existen personas con daños en la piel y no se ha hecho absolutamente nada por buscarle una solución a la problemática”.
Por su parte, Pedro Rodolfo Arteaga, miembro del Comité Ambientalista del Valle de Siria, dijo que como organización han denunciado la existencia de contaminación en varias comunidades por la compañía minera [Goldcorp Inc/ Entremares S.A.] en las quebradas Agua Tibia, Guanijiquil y Casitas, que son afluentes que surgen de la minera aguas abajo.
“Hemos detectado que están contaminadas las aguas subterráneas con tóxicos como cianuro y la alteración de metales pesados como arsénico, mercurio, plomo, cadmio y otros que se han analizado en la zona y que los resultados han sido positivos”, señaló.
Pedro Landa, representante de Cáritas, aseguró que se han cometido una serie de irregularidades en el campo ambiental que no han sido mitigadas. “Se puede generar un problema de salud muy grave en contra de la población”, dijo Landa.
“Lo que más nos preocupa es que el señor Cristian Roldán siempre ha dicho que no existe contaminación en la zona y los estudios dicen todo lo contrarió”, afirmó.
MINERA ESPERARÁ RESULTADOS DE ANÁLISIS
A la zona donde se presentó la muerte de las vacas llegaron empleados de la empresa minera Entremares . Sin embargo, Cristian Roldán, encargado del sistema de bombeo de Entremares y de origen peruano, prefirió no dar declaraciones a EL HERALDO, argumentando que esa era función del oficial de prensa de la compañía.
Sin embargo, Roldán sí dio explicaciones a un grupo de pobladores que se encontraban en el sitio y dijo que Entremares esperará los resultados y de ser positivos indemnizaría a los afectados. “No podemos aceptar que nos acusen de que estamos contaminando el agua. Estamos convencidos que el líquido sí puede ser consumido por el ganado”, dijo Roldán. Aseguró que ellos tienen un hato ganadero y que consumen la misma agua que existe en las quebradas.
“Estamos en la disposición de contratar veterinarios para que hagan un estudio en el ganado y determinar qué ha causado las muertes”.
* * *
El Comité Ambientalista del Valle de Siria sigue liderando la lucha, en Honduras, para poner fin a los danos y violaciones ocasionados por esta mina de oro de Goldcorp Inc, y para exigir compesacion y reparaciones. Para mas información: Carlos Amado, del Comité, piviamador@yahoo.com
* * * * * * *
WHAT TO DO
This article adds to the long list of harms and violations caused directly or indirectly by Goldcorp Inc’s open-pit, cyanide leech mines in Guatemala and Honduras. For more info: info@rightsaction.org, www.rightsaction.org
Goldcorp Inc continues to deny any links between its operations and health and environmental harms and human rights violations.
Goldcorp continues to operate with the complete support of the governments of Canada, Honduras and Guatemala. That these governments do nothing to hold it accountable is depressing but not surprising.
US and Canadian citizens should write to -- and keep writing to -- their politicians and media, making them aware of these situations, demanding that our governments prioritize global human rights and environmental concerns over global business interests, demanding that our governments pass criminal and civil laws to help hold our corporations accountable if/ when they violate human rights and/or cause environmental and health harms.
US and Canadian citizens should write to -- and keep writing to -- their Pension Funds and Investment Brokers, to find out what types of corporations and businesses they are investing in, to demand that our investors prioritize global human rights and environmental concerns over profits, to insist that investments be withdrawn if/ when profits are being made at the expense of environmental and health harms and/ or human rights violations.
This is slow, long-term work. We need to make our governments, corporations and investment firms accountable to us and to the highest standards of environmental protection and human rights, in all facets of global economic relations and policies.
See addresses, below.
* * *
TO MAKE TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS for Indigenous and community-based organizations in Guatemala and Honduras that are resisting the harms caused by large-scale “development” projects (mining, tourism, hydro-electric dams, etc) and implementing their own community development projects (schools and scholarships, health clinics, solidarity economy productive projects, etc), human rights and environment projects,
make check payable to "Rights Action" and mail to:
* UNITED STATES: Box 50887, Washington DC, 20091-0887
* CANADA: 552 - 351 Queen St. E, Toronto ON, M5A-1T8
CREDIT-CARD DONATIONS: http://www.rightsaction.org/Templates/donations_index.html
TO JOIN Rights Action’s email list and/or quarterly newsletter list: info@rightsaction.org
CREATE YOUR OWN E-MAIL LIST and re-distribute this and other information
DAILY NEWS: Watch & listen to www.democracynow.org; Read www.upsidedownworld.org, www.dominionpaper.ca
READ: Eduardo Galeano’s “Open Veins of Latin America”; Howard Zinn’s “A People’s History of the United States”; Naomi Klein’s “The Shock Doctrine”;
* * *
ADDRESSES
GOLDCORP Inc.: info@goldcorp.com; inquiries@cibcmellon.com; hr@goldcorp.com; Directors@Goldcorp.com; jamess@montana.com.gt; lisa.wade@montana.com.gt
CANADIAN GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS
Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada
Rideau Hall
1 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, ON, K1A-0A1
info@gg.ca
CANADIAN Minister of International Cooperation
Bev Oda
509-S Centre Block
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON, K1A 0A6
Oda.B@parl.gc.ca
CANADIAN Minister of Foreign Affairs
Lawrence Cannon
509-S Centre Block, House of Commons
Ottawa, ON, K1A 0A6
CANADIAN Embassy in Guatemala
Ambassador Leeann McKechnie
leeann.mckechnie@international.gc.ca
Karin Reinecke, Assistant to the Ambassador
karin.reinecke@international.gc.ca
13 Calle 8-44 Zone 10, Edificio Edyma Plaza
Ciudad de Guatemala
E: gtmla@international.gc.ca
CANADA PENSION PLAN
csr@cppib.ca
* * * * * * *
To get on/ off Rights Action's email list: http://www.rightsaction.org/lists/?p=subscribe&id=3
DELEGATION TO GUATEMALA, APRIL 12-17, 2009:
Rights Action is leading an educational trip to Guatemala and the Goldcorp Inc-mining affected regions. To join this delegation: info@rightsaction.org, www.rightsaction.org
SPEAKING TOUR IN CENTRAL & EASTERN CANADA, APRIL & MAY, 2009:
Rights Action is organizing a speaking tour: “GOLDCORP Inc’s Open Pit Cyanide Mining In Honduras and Guatemala - Versus - Community Development, Environment & Human Rights Well-being of Indigenous and Local Populations in Guatemala & Honduras”. To host educational events in your community: info@rightsaction.org, www.rightsaction.org.