DENR issues ultimatum against Zambales mining firm
Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes has given two mining firms a 15-day deadline to repair the defective structures in their abandoned mines after a Department of Environment and Natural Resources study confirmed the possibility of waste spillage in surrounding communities once La Niña sets in.
Reyes informed President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of his decision to file appropriate charges against the Marcopper Mining Corp. in Marinduque and the Dizon Copper-Silver Mines Inc. in Zambales in a Cabinet meeting at Malacañang yesterday.
“With the onset of La Niña, we must take the necessary precautions so that these abandoned mines will not pose environmental hazards such as spillage of waste,” Reyes said.
Reyes said the Mines and Geosciences Bureau has identified the Maguila-guila siltation dam and Tapian pit of Marcopper and the Bayarong tailings pond and Camalca waste dump of the Dizon Mines as “critical” mine structures.
Based on the DENR study, about 81 baranggays in Marinduque and the entire town of San Marcelino in Zambales are in danger of tailings spill and waste overflow.
“The President has said that the safety of the environment and the safety of the communities are nonnegotiables. We are not taking any risks even as we welcome local and foreign mining firms,” Reyes said.
On March 24, 1996, a tailings spill in the Marcopper mines released 1.6 million cubic meters of waste and killed the 26-kilometer Makulapnit and Boac river systems.
In his letter to Dizon Mines, Reyes cited “potential danger” from the collapse of the Bayarong tailings dam. He told the executives of Marcopper that there is “imminent dangers to life and property” from their defective mine structures. Joyce Pangco Pañares - Manila Standard
Reyes informed President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of his decision to file appropriate charges against the Marcopper Mining Corp. in Marinduque and the Dizon Copper-Silver Mines Inc. in Zambales in a Cabinet meeting at Malacañang yesterday.
“With the onset of La Niña, we must take the necessary precautions so that these abandoned mines will not pose environmental hazards such as spillage of waste,” Reyes said.
Reyes said the Mines and Geosciences Bureau has identified the Maguila-guila siltation dam and Tapian pit of Marcopper and the Bayarong tailings pond and Camalca waste dump of the Dizon Mines as “critical” mine structures.
Based on the DENR study, about 81 baranggays in Marinduque and the entire town of San Marcelino in Zambales are in danger of tailings spill and waste overflow.
“The President has said that the safety of the environment and the safety of the communities are nonnegotiables. We are not taking any risks even as we welcome local and foreign mining firms,” Reyes said.
On March 24, 1996, a tailings spill in the Marcopper mines released 1.6 million cubic meters of waste and killed the 26-kilometer Makulapnit and Boac river systems.
In his letter to Dizon Mines, Reyes cited “potential danger” from the collapse of the Bayarong tailings dam. He told the executives of Marcopper that there is “imminent dangers to life and property” from their defective mine structures. Joyce Pangco Pañares - Manila Standard
posted by OlongapoCity Zambales at
7:25 AM
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