Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Mining Pollution Denounced

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

BUENOS AIRES, Oct 25 2004 (IPS) - Ecologists, academics and concerned citizens will present a complaint to UNESCO in December against the Argentine federal government and the government of the western province of San Juan for permitting mining activity by the Canadian firm Barrick Gold. The Environmental Defense Foundation, headed by Raúl Montenegro, will file the complaint with the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) on behalf of San Juan citizen and environmental groups.

Barrick is mining on Veladero mountain, near Jachal, a town of 24,000 people. Earlier this month a meeting was held to protest the contamination caused by the mining, especially of water supplies, and its impact on agricultural activities.

Montenegro, winner of this year's Right Livelihood Award — the ''Alternative Nobel'' — says the environmental impact study presented by Barrick should never have been approved. The mining company's operations produce 4,000 tons of cyanide waste each year.