HONDURAS: Goldcorp mining operation and environmental disaster
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May 26, 2009
ON-GOING ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER IN THE SIRIA VALLEY, DESPITE CLOSURE OF THE GOLDCORP INC’s “ENTRE MARES” MINE, Revistazo.com, 26 May 2009
http://www.revistazo.biz/cms/ (translated for Rights Action by Rosalind Gill, RGill@glendon.yorku.ca)
The Environmental Committee of the Siria Valley has stated that toxic and poisonous waste from mining excavations left by Entre Mares (Goldcorp Inc) will contaminate water sources used by the local communities in an area that had been slated for reforestation by the mining company.
Tegucigalpa, Honduras.- The report was presented to the Special Prosecutor’s Office for the Environment, on behalf of the Environmental Committee, by Dr. Juan Almendares Bonilla, Director of Madre Tierra, an environmental and human rights organization.  In the report, the Siria Valley Environmental Committee exposes the pollution of water sources resulting from heavy rainfall that formed a well in the area of the leaching pads.  The report states that the region in question “is an extensive area of mining activity full of tailings and toxic and poisonous waste from mining excavations. It was supposedly slated for reforestation by the Entre Mares (Goldcorp Inc.) Company in the Siria Valley.”
The report was copied to the media, the Secretary of Natural Resources and DEFOMIN (Honduras Mining Promotion Agency. The report explains that “the well spilled over and the toxic spillage filled the leaching pads and domestic water supply sources and also spilled tons of water polluted with heavy metals and other residues into the Agua Tibia stream, which will end up polluting the Playa River.
The Committee is exposing to the public the damage and the waste left as a legacy by the Entre Mares mine. This is just an addition to the chain of destruction in the Siria Valley. The report stresses that the Committee hopes that state authorities will apply the appropriate laws to protect the waters of the Siria Valley (streams and the Playa River) and ensure that they prevent illness in the communities and in the agricultural sector.
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MORE INFORMATION ABOUT GOLDCORP Inc’s MINE IN THE SIRIA VALLEY, HONDURAS:

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WHAT TO DO ABOUT “UNJUST ENRICHMENT” IN CANADA and USA
IN CANADA, PLEASE WRITE TO YOUR OWN MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT, AND DEMAND:  a suspension of Goldcorp’s mining operations in Honduras and Guatemala, a full and impartial investigation into the extensive harms and violations caused by its gold mines in Guatemala and Honduras, the paying of full compensation and reparations to the affected families and communities.
IN CANADA & THE USA, WRITE TO YOUR OWN INVESTMENT AND/OR PENSION FUND (like the Canada Pension Fund), and inquire whether they have investments in Goldcorp.  If so, demand that they end their investments in Goldcorp until the above conditions are met.
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