DENR says mercury contamination in Rapu-Rapu insufficient

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) declared that there was no sufficient evidence to attribute mercury contamination to the operation of the Australian mining firm Lafayette Philippines, Inc, in Rapu-Rapu Albay that caused the reported fishkill in rivers near the area and the affliction of skin diseases to some residents. Lands Geology Survey Division chief Antonio Apostol Jr, of the DENR-Mines and Geosciences Bureau made the clarification following reports that many fish died in the nearby rivers and many of the residents were afflicted with skin diseases due to the mercury contamination. Apostol explained that the reported fish kill and affliction of skin diseases of residents in the area could be attributed to some factors and not the mercury contamination from the mining firm. Apostol disclosed that his division has been continuously collecting water samples from the project site and affected water bodies but there was no sufficient evidence to attribute mercury contamination to the operations of the Rapu-Rapu mine. He further disclosed that the mining firm has not been in operation since former DENR secretary Michael Defensor has ordered the suspension of its operation due to violation of Republic Act No. 9275 otherwise known as the Clean Water Act. The DENR has ordered the closure of the mining firm following the spilling of its mine tailings in rivers in Rapu-Rapu. The first spillage took place on October 11, 2005 due to the breakdown of tailings discharge pumps at the Carbon-in-Leach (CIL) detoxification circuit. Because of the spill, the Alma creek, Pagcolobon creek and immediate shoreline were contaminated with cyanide-laden materials that caused a minor fishkill. But another spillage occurred on Oct. 31, 2005 due to the heavy downpour at the project site which resulted to the overflow of mine tailings. Because of the violation, the DENR has ordered the mining firm to pay the amount of P10.7-million for violating its Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC). Apostol said that the firm is not using mercury in the recovery of gold. The company uses cyanide, the most preferred chemical reagent by international gold mining companies, to recover gold from mineral ores. “The major natural sources of mercury are emissions from volcanoes and evaporation from natural bodies of water. Albay gulf is prone to mercury contamination owing to its proximity to active volcanoes like Mayor Volcano," Apostol said. Apostol added that the presence of heavy metals such as cadmium, chromium, lead, arsenic and mercury from the sediment samples analyzed by the Environmental Engineering Department of the University of the Philippines College of Engineering is to be expected because the project area inherently contains these metals. The study, Apostol said, only pointed to the acidity and presence of so-called “toxic heavy metals" but did not qualify whether the levels are beyond toxicity levels. -GMANEWS.TV