BajaBlanca - 11-10-2012 at 06:54 AM
I got this in the BAJA WESTERN ONION online news yesterday and thought it made a very important and interesting read:
Los Cardones, A Toxic Threat For Baja California Sur - The environmentalist and president of Ocean Futures Society, Jean-Michel Cousteau, expressed to
President Felipe Calderón and President-elect Enrique Peña Nieto his support to the people of Baja California Sur in their fight to stop the huge open
pit mining project known as Los Cardones. Through a letter, Cousteau stated that: "If the authorities in charge of protecting this fragile ecosystem
do not act immediately, taking into consideration the present and future generations, the contamination and destruction of what Jacques Cousteau
described as the world's aquarium, would be inevitable."
The toxic mine, Los Cardones, aims to extract by cyanidation, 40 tons of gold over a period of 10 years, 11 tons of material will be processed daily,
drawn from two open pits with a tailing pond of 120 ha. The project could eventually release more than 67 tons of arsenic during the milling process,
laying it exposed to the elements forever. With the constant rains in the area the arsenic could end up permanently polluting the aquifers, which
happened in the San Antonio and Los Planes area due to less risky past mining activities. There is currently a very high rate of incidences of cancer
and contaminated wells.
The proposed toxic project is to be developed on the exact same site as the now defunct Concordia/Paredones Amarillos mine and will include a
desalination plant in the community of Todos Santos, with the capacity to produce 7,500 m3 per day and a pipeline that will transporte the water 42 km
to the project area. The mining project falls within the buffer zone of the "Sierra la Laguna Biosphere Reserve", which by decree, prohibits polluting
activities and surface and subsurface discharge.
Today Invecture Group through Zapal Development Company SA de CV. holds the rights previously held by the Canadian mining company, Vista Gold. Open
pit mega mines like Los Cardones threaten Baja California Sur. That is why organizations like Agua Vale Más Que Oro, Niparajá AC, Medio Ambiente y
Sociedad y el Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental have come together and participated in the public hearing on October 25th. Visit www.defiendelasierra.org and sign the petition, help us defend our water. - Gabriel Patrón, http://www.niparaja.org, 612-122-1171 , Baja California Sur