Rains critical to Lafayette test run, execs say
First posted 09:01am (Mla time) July 12, 2006
By Blanche RiveraInquirer
http://news.inq7.net/archive_article/index.php?ver=1&index=1&story_id=9366
THE RAINS would be critical in determining the efficiency of the environmental control mechanisms put up by Lafayette Mining Ltd. during its 30-day test run, an official of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) said Tuesday.
The impact of the volume of rainfall on Rapu-Rapu Island in Albay province, which hosts the 1.4-billion-peso Rapu-Rapu Polymetallic Project, would reveal the stability of the dams and other structures that were enhanced by Lafayette as a precondition for the test run.“The rains will tell [us] whether there’s anything more we need to fix,” Mines and Environmental Safety chief Michael Cabalda said in an interview Tuesday.
“The countdown to another ocean disaster has begun,” Greenpeace Southeast Asia toxics campaigner Beau Bacongis said, warning that the test run heralded “the continuation of the destruction that the mine will wreak on the fragile marine ecosystem around the island.
“Its toxic tailings and the inevitable acid mine drainage associated with this operation will continue to pollute the seas,” Bacongis added.Heavy rains had caused the second of two mine spills in the Lafayette mine site on Oct. 31 last year, proving the dam’s incapacity to handle a huge volume of water.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources had suspended Lafayette’s processing operations for seven months after investigations showed that the company had started operations when its dams were not tall enough to hold water equivalent to 100 years of rainfall.
July has been dubbed as the peak of the wet season in the Philippines. Two tropical cyclones have entered the country this month, with the weather bureau expecting more before the month ends.
With a report from Agence France-Presse
By Blanche RiveraInquirer
http://news.inq7.net/archive_article/index.php?ver=1&index=1&story_id=9366
THE RAINS would be critical in determining the efficiency of the environmental control mechanisms put up by Lafayette Mining Ltd. during its 30-day test run, an official of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) said Tuesday.
The impact of the volume of rainfall on Rapu-Rapu Island in Albay province, which hosts the 1.4-billion-peso Rapu-Rapu Polymetallic Project, would reveal the stability of the dams and other structures that were enhanced by Lafayette as a precondition for the test run.“The rains will tell [us] whether there’s anything more we need to fix,” Mines and Environmental Safety chief Michael Cabalda said in an interview Tuesday.
“The countdown to another ocean disaster has begun,” Greenpeace Southeast Asia toxics campaigner Beau Bacongis said, warning that the test run heralded “the continuation of the destruction that the mine will wreak on the fragile marine ecosystem around the island.
“Its toxic tailings and the inevitable acid mine drainage associated with this operation will continue to pollute the seas,” Bacongis added.Heavy rains had caused the second of two mine spills in the Lafayette mine site on Oct. 31 last year, proving the dam’s incapacity to handle a huge volume of water.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources had suspended Lafayette’s processing operations for seven months after investigations showed that the company had started operations when its dams were not tall enough to hold water equivalent to 100 years of rainfall.
July has been dubbed as the peak of the wet season in the Philippines. Two tropical cyclones have entered the country this month, with the weather bureau expecting more before the month ends.
With a report from Agence France-Presse
posted by lrcluzonblog at
11:45 PM
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