Government And Mining Company Desminic S.a. Accused Of Contaminating Mico River In Nicaragua

NICARAGUA

Government and mining company DESMINIC S.A. accused of Contaminating Mico River in Nicaragua Managua, Nicaragua

by Mauricio Miranda, El Nuevo Diario, Edition 9164

17th February 2006

The Commission for the Environment and Natural Resources of the Nicaraguan National Assembly recognized this week the problem of the mining-related waste contamination in the Mico River. Researchers of the Humboldt Center explained to the members of the commission the results of a study which shows the existence of high levels of magnesium and aluminium in the water flowing through the river.

This study of a collection of samples and analysis of waters was made partly in the middle and higher reaches of the Mico River basin, where it supplies water for the residents fo the towns of La Libertad, San Pedro de Lóvago, Santo Tomás and Villa Sandino in the Province of Chontales. According to researchers, they have also found "significant levels of lead and arsenic."

Mining Developments of Nicaragua (Desarrollos Mineros de Nicaragua), which operates the gold mine La Libertad, is the company blamed for contaminating the valuable river, which extends some 419 kilometers.

"The animals which, during the dry season, consume between 10 and 25 gallons of this water every day, are the first affected. There are serious problems with cattle pregnancy, and in many cases we are finding congenital deformities, which range from an animal without an ear or a foot up to true monstrosities which one could see in the museum of Juigalpa, but this isn't all, because there is a latent threat that the milk, meat and derivatives that we all consume also are contaminated. In this way, we are all exposed," stated the researcher from the Humboldt Center, Felipe Ortiz.

Sixty percent of the population living in the local towns do not have access to potable water, and they drink water from wells alongside the river. They wash their clothes in the contaminated water, and upon contact with the water can contract hepatitis, which is an infection, also loss of hair, and the children and adults who bathe in the water and, accidentally or deliberately, consume the water from the river, have developed pulmonary problems, embolisms and body trembling which promptly develop into the symptoms of Parkinson´s disease.

"People of these towns have no other option if they want to quit drinking the water, and we cannot eliminate the possibility that, if this resource continues to be degraded, we will see deformities in human beings," said the researcher.

The study was also presented to local authorities in November last year. Attending the presentation were also municipal authorities, departmental delegates from the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARENA), and the Environmental Attorney`s office, but to this date, no-one has made any action, and because of this the charges and findings were carried to the Latin American Water Tribunal, seated in Mexico.

"The environmental experts of the local municipalities cannot make their local governments pass ordinances such as the Municipal laws, because they are not allowed to enter near the mine operations, and central entities such as the Environmental Attorney or MARENA have not taken any action to meet with the Ministry of Industrial and Commercial Promotion who could cancel for once and all the mining concession and urge the company to make restitution for the environmental damages," emphasized Ortiz.

According to the researchers of the Humboldt Center, authorities of the mine La Libertad responded to local reports of contamination by claiming that the pollution of the Mico River is being caused by cattle; however in the studies no residues of pesticides were found in the water.

The councils of the affected municipalities are conducting other studies and more water analyses, carrying out more tests to try and determine the origin of the contamination. This work is being done jointly with the Center of Investigation of Acuatic Resources of the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua (CIRA-UNAN) and the results will be presented soon.

Link: Centro Humboldt Nicaragua
http://www.humboldt.org.ni