Marcopper mining disaster

The Marcopper mining disaster was one of the Philippines' largest mining disasters to date.
The disaster occurred on the Philippine island of Marinduque a province of the Philippines
located in the MIMAROPA region in Luzon.

The Marcopper Mining Corporation Officially started its mining operations on Marinduque
Island, Philippines, in 1969 at what was known as the Mt. Tapian ore deposit. This was after a
number of years of mining exploration and studies. When the Mt. Tapian reserve was depleted in
1990, Marcopper continued its operations utilizing the San Antonio copper orebody which lies
some three kilometers north of the Mt. Tapian mining complex. Mine tailings from the Mt.
Tapian ore deposit were discharged into Calancan Bay. It is estimated that a total of no less than
84 million metric tons of mine tailings were discharged into this shallow bay between 1975 and
1988. Due to constant complaints by local residents against the continued dumping of mine
tailings into Calancan Bay, it was agreed that the old Mt. Tapian open-cut mine site would be
used to receive mine tailings from the San Antonio operations on a temporary basis. In spite of
the unconventional use of the Tapian Pit as a containment system, no environmental risk
assessment and management was carried out by Marcopper.[1]

Contents
 1 Mining disaster
 2 Aftermath
 3 Present
 4 See also
 5 References

Mining disaster
On 24 March, 1996, the Marcopper Mine on Marinduque made global news due to a Mining
accident at their Marinduque mine. The incident involved the Marcopper Mining Corporation
which has been carrying out open-pit copper mining since the 1970s. When the company
finished one of its operations in Marinduque, it plugged up the old pit with a concrete fixture to
allow the pit to act as a disposal lake for mining waste. In August 1995, a significant leak was
discovered in the pit's drainage tunnel. This subsequently fractured. The accident discharged
tailings into the Makulapnit-Boac (Boac) river system. The disaster resulted in the release of
over 1.6 million cubic meters of tailings along 27 km of the river and the coastal areas[2]. The
impact on the river and the people who depend on it for their livelihoods was massive.
The rush of tailings displaced river water which inundated low-lying areas, destroying crops and
vegetable gardens and clogging irrigation channels to rice fields.

The release left the Boac River virtually dead. The effects of the incident were so devastating
that a UN assessment mission declared the accident to be a major environmental disaster.[2] The
Tapian pit contained around 23 million metric tons of mine waste. Officials of the DENR
(Department of Environment and Natural Resources) claim that they did not know of the
presence of the drainage tunnel measuring 2.6 kilometres long and 1 metre wide which was
found underneath, which leads to the Makulapnit and Boac river system.[3]

Aftermath

The toxic spills immediately caused flash floods which isolated five villages, with a population
of 4,400 people, along the far side of the Boac river. One village, Barangay Hinapulan, was
buried under six feet of muddy floodwater and 400 families had to flee to higher grounds. Their
sources of drinking water were contaminated while fish, freshwater shrimp and pigs were killed.
Helicopters had to fly in food, water and medical supplies to the isolated villages. Residents of
20 villages out of the 60 villages in the whole province were advised to evacuate their
communities.[3]

The government estimates that this toxic tailings waste killed P1.8 million worth of mature
freshwater and marine life and P5 million bangus fry.[3] The 27-kilometre Boac river, which is
the main source of livelihood for those who are not part of the 1,000-strong workforce of
Marcopper, has been declared dead by government officials.[4]

On 17 April 1996, the Department of Health (DOH) came up with a report which said that
residents could already be harbouring in their bodies amounts of zinc and copper which are
beyond tolerable limits. Nine residents were found to have zinc in their blood which was more
than 200% above safe levels. Water samples also revealed excessive and dangerous levels of
contamination i.e. 1,300% above the human tolerable level of 0.5 microgram per 1/1000 litres of
water. Residents also complained of skin irritations and respiratory problems which could have
been caused by the poisonous vapours emitted by hydrogen sulfide and nitrous oxide from the
mine wastes.[3] Despite these findings, Marcopper held on to the claim that the tailings were non-
toxic.[4]
The drinking water residents relied on was contaminated. Fish, shrimp and other food sources,
which are the main livelihood for those who do not work for Marcopper, were immediately
killed. After the disaster, Marcopper and Placer Dome closed down all their mines. The
government attempted to cover up the fact they did not enforce environmental laws throughout
the years. The local residents in Marinduque have also claimed they knew about the tunnel for
almost 20 years. Evidence came to light that Marcopper knew of the leak in the drainage tunnel
well in advance of the accident, as there had been a long history of problems regarding the tunnel
and pit.[4]

Present
On October 4, 2005, the provincial government of Marinduque sued Marcopper's parent
company, Placer Dome, for $100 million in damages. Placer Dome was purchased in 2006 by
Barrick Gold, who has now been joined in the lawsuit.[5][6]

For 16 years the Marinduque Marcopper Mine dumped its toxic wastes into the shallow bay of
Calancan, filling it with 200 million tons of toxic tailings.[7] When exposed to the ocean breezes,
sometimes the tailings become airborne and landed on the rice fields, in open wells, and on
village homes. The locals apparently called this their "snow from Canada"[8]. This "Snow from
Canada", comprising of Mine Tailings, has forced 59 children to undergo traumatic lead
detoxification in the Philippine capital of Manila. Unfortunately, at least three children have died
from this heavy metal poisoning.[9]

Oxfam, an international development and humanitarian aid agency with projects in the
Philippines was approached by Marinduque community members for help. Oxfam Australia’s
Mining Ombudsman took their case and released a report. The report calls on Placer Dome to
complete an environmental clean-up, adequately compensate affected communities, and take
steps to prevent future disasters. The report updates similar findings made by the United States
Geological Survey in July 2004. Placer Dome (which ran the mine at the time of the disaster) is
the sixth largest gold mining company in the world and is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Marinduque Island remains one of the poorest provinces in the Philippines.[10]
Solutions

There is no solution that can erase the damage that has occurred in Marinduque. The people
simply want their environment cleaned up, compensation for their suffering, and assurance that
this will not happen again. They request that Placer Dome pay for Environmental and Social
Impact Assessments, dating back to 1975, and compensate villagers according to the results.
They feel Placer Dome should pay money to the Calancan Bay Rehabilitation Program to assure
their mess is cleaned up in the bay. They firmly believe Placer Dome should not be granted
permits to start new mines in the Philippines until the environments of Boac, Mogpog and
Calancan Bay have been completely rehabilitated and the residents compensated.

Specifically, the people are looking for the following:

1. Maintain the closure order against Marcopper so they cannot operate again.
2. Require Marcopper/Placer Dome to compensate them for the time since 1996.
3. For Marcopper/Placer Dome to set up a Health Trust Fund.
4. Immediately proceed with Marcopper/Placer Dome�s best option to rehabilitate Boac
River.
5. Ensure the Tapian Pit will not leak again.
6. Collect unpaid taxes from Marcopper/Placer Dome.
7. Conclude the criminal cases against Marcopper/Placer Dome.
8. Investigate means of intervention for the affected community people.

There is no way the problems Marcopper has caused can be completely solved but the
community is working to secure what they can to make up for the pain and suffering they have
endured