Stipulations in the Barrick proposed deal on the saga of Calancan Bay, real myths

 Stipulated 'Facts' on the proposed Barrick Settlement Agreement:

(v) Marcopper's disposal of mine tailings into the Calancan Bay was at all relevant times conducted pursuant to and in accordance with government permits;

(vi) Marcopper complied with the Pollution Adjudication Board's April 11, 1988 cease and desist order while it was in effect;

(vii) Marcopper fully complied with the requirements of the May 13, 1988 Order of the Office of the President;

(viii) the May 13, 1988 Order of the Office of the President includes express findings by the National Government that the continued operation of the Marcopper Mine and disposal of mine tailings into Calancan Bay was in the public interest;

 

Mine tailings discharged on Calancan Bay

THE TRUTH

Excerpts from an article on  Undermining the Forests, PHILIPPINES (p. 60-61) that touches on the above issues, by Catherine Coumans for Forest Peoples Programme, Philippine Indigenous Peoples Links, World Rainforest Movement.

 Times of hope

...The ousting of Marcos signalled a second period of hope for the villagers, who renewed their campaign. On 11 November 1986, the NPCC instructed Marcopper to transfer its tailings disposal system within three months. Later, the newly-established Pollution Adjudication Board (PAB) noted that Marcopper had been operating without a valid permit since 10 February 1987, and on 11 April 1988, ordered the company to cease operations immediately and to stop dumping mine tailings into Calancan Bay.

Marcopper’s management responded eight days later by shutting down the mine completely without any prior warning, thereby shutting off the electricity (produced by the mine’s generators and sold locally) to the entire island.

This led to massive protest rallies on the island and threats to those who had challenged the company. Eventually, history repeated itself as the mine’s president, PDI’s John Dodge, appealed directly to President Aquino to overrule the cease and desist order. The company threatened to take legal action against the PAB ruling. To the dismay of the fishermen, Aquino granted the company the right to continue dumping on the condition that it started rehabilitation of the bay. In the midst of these traumatic events, John Dodge made public statements that the fishermen of Calancan Bay “...have not suffered in any way because of the tailings disposal system...”

These denials of damage to Calancan Bay contradict PDI responses to the massive Boac river disaster. In Boac, a significant portion of the three to four million tons of tailings that spewed into the Boac River flowed out to sea near the mouth of the river. PDI accepted impact assessments showing that corals were covered by the tailing and that turbulence had driven away fish, and proceeded to compensate the affected fishermen. Yet it consistently denies that 200 million tons of mine tailings have destroyed livelihoods in neighbouring Calancan Bay.

 

Facing reality

...In March 1997, a team of researchers, under Dr. Fellizar of the University of the Philippines at Los Banos, finished a report that clearly identifies the socio-economic damage caused by the tailings in Calancan Bay. They identified extensive heavy metal contamination of soil, water and biota and unequivocally linked this to the tailings in the bay.

During the same month (March 1997), a joint team of medical professionals from the Department of Health and the University of the Philippines (DoH-UP) conducted limited health studies amongst 108 Calancan Bay villagers and established unacceptable lead and mercury levels in seven of the 22 children tested. Then-Health Secretary Carmencita Reodica said “in the long run, if we continue to monitor, we will find more and more cases.”

An expanded follow-up study was conducted by the DoH-UP team in October 1997.This time air and soil samples as well as blood samples were collected, at locations on the causeway and seven kilometres away. This time, all 59 children tested had unacceptable levels of lead in their blood and one quarter had unacceptable blood cyanide levels. Soil samples showed unacceptable levels of lead and cadmium, and elevated levels of copper and zinc, while air samples showed lead values exceeding United States Environmental Protection Agency

standards.

Based on these findings, seven government agencies petitioned the Office of the

President to declare a state of disaster in Calancan Bay for health reasons.

President Ramos made the declaration in March 1998.