‘Live sick or flee’: fears of El Salvador’s rivers being polluted as mining ban lifted | Global development

VEdalina Morales realized something was wrong with the water she lived in in 2004. A toxic red spot spread across the water San Sebastian River In the province of Cabañas El Salvador It appears to be polluting the environment and worrying residents.

As part of a campaign to protect her home and the environment, Morales, 54, has visited mining projects near the river to learn about the risks posed by the extractive sector. “I was shocked by how devastated their environment was,” she says.

Since then, Morales has become the face of the fight against mining in El Salvador. Perhaps because she knew the power of the pro-mining lobby, she and her fellow resistance members only briefly celebrated when their country became the first in the world to do so. Ban on mineral mining In 2017. She says she knew deep down that the battle was not over yet.

Seven years later, her fears were realized with the reintroduction of mining in El Salvador. On December 23, its conference They voted for the coup The ban on mineral mining, a move supported by hardline President Nayib Bukele, who prioritizes economic growth over environmental concerns.

The new legislation gives the government exclusive control over mining activities and prohibits the use of toxic mercury in gold extraction.

However, despite the regulations, environmentalists have promised strong opposition, citing potential irreparable damage to ecosystems and public health. Other metals released into the environment by gold mining include arsenic, for example.

“In the San Sebastian River, arsenic levels are 300 times higher than international safety standards,” says environmental biologist Cedia Cortes. Acid drainage turns the water a toxic red color, polluting the water, air and land.

DDespite the history of El Salvador Violence against human rights and environmental activistsbesides Lawsuits brought by the state against them, Luis Paradaa 64-year-old former army officer who has spoken out against the military The notorious murder of Jesuit priests In 1989, he headed the legal defense of the Salvadoran government when it was sued by mining companies in 2009.

Both lawsuits have been filed before Commerce Group Corp. and San Sebastian Gold Mines and by Canadian mining company Pacific Rim, which was later acquired by OceanaGold. The International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes, a court of the World Bank, The first was decided in favor of the state In 2011 and Pacific Rim’s $250 million claim was rejected In 2016.

“Winning the arbitrations was key to banning mining,” Parada says. We won the last law in October 2016, and shortly after, in March 2017, the country passed the law thanks to the momentum created by communities after more than a decade of fighting the mining industry.

By then, nearly 80% of the population Support mining ban. Luis Gonzalez, director of the environmental lobby group Salvadoran Environmental UnitIt is believed that the public still supports the ban.

“Even though there has been a political shift, I think people still have clarity that mining is bad,” he says. “We can still rally support at the national level to reject this measure.”

Although the ban on metal mining was a Historic victory For the environmental movement in Central America, the threat of “extractivism“It was not far from over. Only four years later, the government under the Bukele administration moved toward repealing the ban Joining the Intergovernmental Forum on Miningand eventually embraced the idea publicly.

“We are the only country in the world that has imposed a complete ban on mineral mining, something that no other country does. Ridiculous!” Bukele said On his account last month. “This God-given wealth can be responsibly harnessed to bring unprecedented economic and social development to our people.”

early last year, Bukele is authoritarian administration Five environmental activists were targeted By accusing them of committing a crime in 1989 during the brutal civil war and “unlawful assembly,” the charge used in the government’s charges. Suppression of organized crime. The arrests have been widely condemned as politically motivated.

Bukele’s pro-mining rhetoric was not a surprise. “We have been warning since 2021 that mining interests were preying on El Salvador, and this was confirmed when Five of our environmental leaders jailed “In January 2023,” Morales says.

According to Parada, the repeal of the mining law means that the two cases and similar cases can be reopened. “Since the mining ban was repealed, the country could be lining up to receive lawsuits from defeated mining companies, because they will claim what they believe is theirs,” he says.

eEnvironmental pollution of waterways is virtually a matter of life and death for El Salvador. The Lemba River is the most important river in the country. Providing about 70% of San Salvador’s drinking water Capital area.

Cortes fears that industrial mining will have a devastating impact on El Salvador’s waters. “The Lemba River as we know it may disappear,” she says. “This river needs extensive care to survive due to agricultural chemicals, mining and quarrying, as well as the four hydroelectric power plants located within the watershed.”

Gonzalez also believes that opening up mining projects could have dire consequences. “People who are already getting contaminated water will have more contaminated water,” he says. “Heavy metals will get into everything from tap water to crops, which means crops will either dry out or absorb these chemicals, causing health consequences.”

At a recent press conference, Bukele asked whether people could drink water from the Lemba River. “Who can drink water from the river here?” He asked, saying his government needed new sources of revenue to provide people with clean tap water. “What we need is money to clean our rivers.”

In October, El Salvador successfully completed The world’s largest debt transfer for river conservationIt repurchased $1 billion (£800 million) of its bonds at a discount, saving more than $352 million. These savings will be used to fund the Rio Lemba conservation and restoration program over the next 20 years.

The initiative, supported by the US International Development Finance Corporation and the Development Bank for Latin America and the Caribbean, includes $200 million to finance the program directly, while a $150 million grant will finance it after 2044.

“This $200 million will represent an annual investment of $9 million on the Lemba River over the next 20 years and can go towards conservation work,” he says. “But it will not come close to compensating for the damage caused by mining.”

The costs to the environment from mining can be astronomical. According to A A 2022 study conducted by the Mexican Institute of Statistics and GeographyThe cost of cleaning up a ton of cyanide-contaminated soil is about $200,000.

“A water leak containing cyanide could cost millions to clean up, and acidic drainage would cost El Salvador millions of dollars forever,” says Andres McKinley, a researcher at the José Simeon Cañas University of Central America in El Salvador. “It’s a fight for water, the heart of the mining industry.”

Environmentalists warn that mining poses a greater risk in El Salvador because of the country’s small size. But Bukele disagrees. “Countries like Qatar, which are half our size, are rich because of extractive activity,” he says.

Gonzalez says it’s not just the size that’s putting the country at risk, but “the reality of it.” El Salvador is the most densely populated country in the Americas“. It refers to the vastly different amounts of water available Salvadorans compare with Canadiansfor example, where the latter has more than 40x leverage.

Environmental activists like Morales worry that Congress and the courts are controlled by the government (After Bukele sacked the country’s Supreme Court judges and prosecutor) They will make resisting the return of mining an uphill struggle but they believe it is a battle that must be fought.

“It is very unlikely that a court controlled by Bukele will rule against the government, so there is a need to turn to protest because that is the only way they will be heard,” Parada says. “People are speaking out on social media, and there will be street protests soon.”

Gonzalez fears that El Salvador will suffer a mass population exodus due to increasing environmental pollution – which would exacerbate the migration crisis already underway in Central America.

“Mining generates enormous social and environmental impact,” he says. “Many will be at risk of poisoning [and] They live sick or have to flee their communities because of the heavy metals used by this industry.