Protected forests sacrificed for titanium profits
Published by MAC on 2009-04-14Protected forests sacrificed for titanium profits
http://www.thanhniennews.com
8 April 2009
Several areas are suffering from environmental pollution and water shortage as miners chop down trees without replanting them.
The deep holes in the ground are a testament to the depths of irresponsibility that titanium mining companies have plumbed.
Not only have they failed to replant the forests they have destroyed, they have not even bothered to fill up the holes made while mining for the metal.
With prices rising in response to increasing demand and some countries banning titanium mining because of environmental concerns, several companies have obtained licenses to exploit the non-corrosive metal in Binh Dinh and Quang Binh provinces.
Titanium is used to produce strong lightweight alloys for the aerospace industry, sophisticated electronic devices and nuclear plants.
Binh Dinh has estimated reserves of more than 10 million tons of titanium in protected forest areas along the coastal districts of Phu My and Phu Cat, and Quy Nhon Town.
Hundreds of hectares of this forestland in Phu My and Phu Cat districts have been devastated as the companies chop down trees for mining.
The forest in Phu My District’s My Thanh Town has been replanted carelessly while companies in other areas have not planted a single tree after completing their mining operations.
Frustrated residents
The environmental damage caused by mining activities has angered residents of Binh Dinh Province in recent years.
Between 2006 and 2008, there have been numerous complaints lodged by thousands of local residents claiming the mining had adversely affected the environment and their living standards.
Some residents also caused public disturbances in protest.
While some companies have resumed mining activities after coming to agreement with the residents, others have asked local governments to help them continue mining after the residents protested their activities.
“The companies are only interested in mining titanium and have ignored replanting the forest,” said a local resident.
He said the poplar forest cannot be revived because mining operations had removed the rich top soil.
Another resident said no other tree could survive on land in coastal areas like the poplars.
The provincial road No. 639 has also been seriously damaged by heavy trucks used by the mining companies.
Policy evasion
The government has encouraged titanium processing rather than mining to export the ore.
However, many companies have concentrated on exploiting the ore and exporting the raw material as it is more profitable.
Only four companies currently process titanium in Binh Dinh Province.
Fourteen companies have been licensed to mine titanium in Phu Cat and Phu My districts. The licenses were issued either by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment or the provincial People’s Committee.
In Quy Nhon Town, 18 of 44 applicants have been licensed to mine since2006 on an area of a 1,000 hectares.
However, lax management has allowed some incompetent companies to procure licenses and export prices have not been monitored to ensure due revenues.
Some companies have exported titanium ore at VND800,000 (US$45) per ton, while others have done it for just VND155,000 ($8.70) per ton.
The prices offered by companies also vary widely, from VND600,000 ($34) to VND1.7 million ($96) per ton of purified Iimenite deposits, which contain titanium.
This has meant a loss of export tariff revenues for the government.
Quang Binh suffers
Large areas of coastal forests in Quang Binh being dug up to exploit titanium are a common sight in the central province.
But no local resident has benefited from the sacrifice.
“We have worked mainly on dealing with disputes over titanium mining recently,” says Nguyen Phuong Lam, head of Ngu Thuy Nam Commune in Le Thuy District. “We have not seen any benefit for the local (resident).”
He said almost all the 581 families with 2,000 members have had to suffer directly the impacts of mining as the companies have dug up both forestland and farmland.
“The impacts are serious,” he said. “They have dug deeply into the ground and affected the underground water.”
He said local titanium reserves were not huge, but licenses have been unwisely granted and this has led to careless exploitation.
“There was no conference or research on the implications before the mining began,” another communal official said.
In January 2004, the Quang Binh People’s Committee had to reissue a license that had been granted to the Quang Binh Import Export Company after reports surfaced that the previous license had allowed it to mine in some important protected coastal forest areas.
Four months later, the committee admitted that companies had failed to close the mining zones and replant trees after finishing their mining activities in Le Thuy and Quang Trach districts.
Deep holes in the mining areas could facilitate the encroachment of seawater and damage the environment, the committee said.
Thanh Nien also found the Quang Binh Import Export Company showing the same lack of responsibility, leaving behind another mining area without closing the huge holes and replanting the trees.
The company was licensed to exploit titanium on a total of 138 hectares.