martes, 4 de noviembre de 2014
sábado, 11 de octubre de 2014
lunes, 29 de septiembre de 2014
domingo, 28 de septiembre de 2014
Cananea Mine discharging wastes into San Pedro and Rio Sonora Basins
Cananea Mine
discharging wastes into San Pedro and Rio Sonora Basins
In 1979 the San Pedro River seen in Palominas ran red for a hundred miles with rain floodwater and Cananea tailings wastes.
photo Marty Cordano
An undetermined amount of what looks like sulfuric
acid leaching solution from the Grupo Mexico Buenavista Cananea, Sonora mine
has entered the north-flowing San Pedro River on the Sonoran side of the border.
The overflow of mine wastes resulted from heavy rains September 17-18
said a company representative.
A bulletin from Proteccion Civil Sonora (civil
protection agency) indicated that an overflight following the rains provided
evidence that other discharges from two mine waste retention dams appeared to
also be entering the southeast flowing Rio Bacanuchi, a tributary to the south
flowing Rio Sonora.
This spill follows an August 7 discharge of 15 million
metric gallons of sulfuric acid from a solvent extraction plant at the mine
spilled into the Rio Bacanuchi and the Rio Sonora and resulted in an estimated
32,000 residents drinking bottled water over a stretch of more than 100 miles.
The newest spill resulted in a “preventative
binational alert” issued by the agency Proteccion Civil (Civil Protection).to
the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) Nogales, Arizona office. The Hermosillo Proteccion Civil office said
Monday that they had also immediately alerted the environmental agency SEMARNAT
and the National Water Commission (CONAGUA) who conducted surface water testing
in the San Pedro.
The Proteccion Civil bulletin did not state that the
contamination is known to be entering Arizona. Ivan Valerio Cortes, Chief of
the Cananea municipal Proteccion Civil office, said Monday that he has seen no
test results but that the appearance of the contaminatedwater seems to be a mix
of reddish acid, mud, and rain water.
Valerio added that he could not accurately describe
the source of contamination, which had been viewed by the Sonora state head of
the agency, Carlos Jesus Arias. However
Valerio said that it appeared to be a leaching solution of “cobreza” or copper
sulfate that has been utilized to leach metals.
“The solution had been diverted to an arroyo and
overflowed into a tributary of the San Pedro and appears to be impacting the
Cananea Vieja ejido(collective land) area north of the mine. Proteccion Civil is advising ranchers in
that area to not allow cattle to drink from the river”
There are several other ejidos between the mine and
the Arizona border, but Valerio said he did not know if they were impacted by
mine discharges.
Victor Del Castillo, Director of Ecology for Grupo
Mexico said Monday that “what is entering the river is 100% rainwater in
quality and that CONAGUA and PROFEPA (the enforcement arm of SEMARNAT) have
declared that the pH (acidity) is within Mexican norms.”
Del Castillo added that the mine had used lime and
magnesium hydroxide to neutralize pH in the waters as a “preventative measure”
but that “there is no problem with mining contamination impacting the San Pedro
as we have often told the Arizona-Mexico Commission. There are levels of iron
present in these discharges that are within the norms for surface water. Proteccion Civil has a policy of exercising
caution; they do not know whether waters are contaminated.”
On Monday, Arias told several Sonoran publications,
including Sinembargo, an online newspaper, that in an overflight over
the mine this past weekend he had viewed ruptures in two dams that were leaking
oranges fluid—Campo Frio and La Mexicana.
According to the newspapers, Arias stressed that he had no idea what the
orange chemicals that he saw were but that the earthen “curtain” that was
retaining wastes from leaving the waste dams appeared to be leaking above the
Rio Bacanuchi and that other wastes were entering the San Pedro basin. Arias told the papers that he saw other
discharges that appeared to be infiltrating into the ground.
Del Castillo and Valerio both indicated that, without
giving a figure for the latest spill, it was far smaller than the August 7
spill of acid and is being diluted by copious amounts of rainwater.
Arizona Department of Environmental Quality spokesman
Mark Shaffer said Monday evening that ADEQ has no additional information from
Federal authorities in either country but that they would be monitoring for
acidity and metals near their sampling station by Palominas on Tuesday. Shaffer said that pH/acidity results could
be immediately reported and that the Arizona state lab should have metals
levels reported within a week.
Shaffer suggested that the river is flowing at around
600 feet per second near the border and that contaminants may have been
diluted. “At this time we are not
issuing any health alert pending the test results,” added Shaffer.
Acidic spills from the Cananea mine between 1977 and
1979 resulted in devastating impacts on the San Pedro River. Pollution levels declined dramatically as,
under U.S. diplomatic pressure, the mine began to divert newer wastes to the
Rio Sonora basin which suffered numerous spills in the 1980s that appeared to
have diminished greatly prior to the August 7 acid spill.
Photographs taken by the Sierra Vista Herald on
Monday afternoon did not show obvious discolorations in the river as it entered
Cochise County.
One Sonoran resident on Monday, who asked not be
identified, described contamination entering the San Pedro River as “a
potential opportunity. Maybe people in
Arizona will notice that the mine pollutes and understand better how our lives
have been impacted by contamination in the Rio Sonora.”
jueves, 18 de septiembre de 2014
viernes, 12 de septiembre de 2014
La detención de Mario Luna
José Luis Moreno
Como
si no tuviera problemas que enfrentar, la mañana del 11 de septiembre de 2014, el
gobierno de Guillermo Padrés decidió detener a Mario Luna, líder indígena yaqui.
En el contexto de la contaminación del río Sonora y la contingencia en siete municipios,
el reportaje televisivo que dio cuenta de las obras hidráulicas que construyó
en su rancho “Pozo Nuevo”, y el expediente legal abierto en casos como el del
acueducto Independencia, el Ramal Norte y la presa Pilares, el procurador
estatal envió al reclusorio de Hermosillo, a uno de los personajes que
simbolizan la lucha en contra de la ilegalidad y la impunidad que significan
tales obras.
El
escenario político favorable que tuvo el gobernador de Sonora durante cinco
años, tres con un presidente de la república del PAN y dos en una coyuntura de
acuerdos con el PRI para la aprobación de las reformas estructurales, ha
cambiado. Es un gobernante acorralado que quiere convertir la tragedia del río
Sonora (como lo fue el caso de la guardería ABC) en una más de sus estrategias
para lucrar y beneficiarse.
Ausente
durante los primeros días en la zona del derrame de contaminantes, apareció
después con una pala en las manos cavando el suelo para “limpiar el río”, detrás
de una intensa campaña publicitaria para “salvarlo”, y un bravucón enfrentamiento
con el Grupo México. Quiso que le aprobaran el uso de recursos del Fondo de
Desastres Naturales (FONDEN), pero el gobierno federal lo rechazó. Luego
utilizó recursos públicos del estado para ayudar en tareas de apoyo, señalando
que se los cobraría después a la empresa. Posteriormente brindó asesoría legal a
demandas de pobladores en contra del grupo minero para el resarcimiento de los
daños. La estrategia la desarticuló el gobierno federal el 11 de septiembre, con
el anuncio de la aprobación de un fideicomiso para reparar los daños
ocasionados, en acuerdo con el Grupo México, por 2 mil millones de pesos.
Televisa
lo desnuda con varios reportajes en su programa nocturno Punto de Partida. La prensa nacional da cabida a notas, reportajes
y editoriales sobre su actuar y el de sus colaboradores. La agenda del
gobernador es desviar la atención y posicionar la contaminación del río como el
mayor desastre ecológico de México, para recuperar credibilidad, apoyo popular,
manejar dinero, y captar votos. Pero no lo logra. Para colmo, tampoco logra
ayudar de manera efectiva a la población afectada.
El
ofensivo reportaje sobre su presa de 120 metros de longitud y 80 metros de
altura, almacenamiento de 4 Mm3 de agua, acueducto de 7 km,
concesiones de agua por 3 Mm3 de agua al año y dos reservorios, para
el riego de 300 ha de nogal, derrumban su discurso sexenal de El agua es de todos. Pocas desgracias
como la de la comunidad de Bacanuchi: cerca de un gran complejo minero que la
contamina y aguas abajo de un propietario particular (que es a la vez
gobernador del estado) que les obstaculiza el acceso al agua. El PAN publica un
desplegado con fotografías de los represos de sus adversarios, pero no hay
comparación con una presa.
Guillermo
Padrés fanfarronea su exigencia y obtención de audiencia con el secretario de Gobernación para atender el asunto del río
Sonora. Previamente, en un hecho inédito expulsa a tres delegados federales (PROFEPA,
CONAGUA y SEMARNAT) del Comité Estatal de Operación de Emergencias, en plena
contingencia. En la desesperación, juega una de sus últimas cartas: detener a
un líder yaqui, para desviar la atención, cobrar venganza, repartir
culpabilidades, e intimidar a sus opositores. Lamentablemente para él y para
fortuna de Mario Luna, Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong cancela la audiencia. Éste le
pide “respeto y actitud constructiva”. Un día antes, el vocero presidencial le
pide “se conduzca en el marco de la ley”.
jueves, 11 de septiembre de 2014
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