Manila Bulletin, Philippines : Rio Tuba Mining Operations

18/10/2003

Rio Tuba Mining Operations : An ecological time bomb

By Edgardo J. Angara

FOR about 25 years now, a good portion of Palawan, the country’s “environmental jewel,” has been hostage to a silent killer. In Barangay Rio Tuba in Bataraza town, a mining concession named Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corporation (Rio Ruba) has been making a killing extracting nickel ore from its grounds and exporting these to its partner in Japan, the Sumitomo Metal Mining Company, Inc. Ltd.

In the past quarter century, Rio Tuba’s mining operations had already stripped 11 million tons of nickel ore from Rio Tuba. In the process, it had left behind a trail of irreversible damage to the town’s environs, its people’s health as well as their source of livelihood.

Farmers and fishermen have been complaining of decreasing farm production and fishing yields due to silt accumulation in the farmlands and rivers. Residents near the mining site have also been suffering from respiratory and skin problems due to excessive dust and air pollution.

In a recent special meeting of the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD) which I attended with Palawan congressmen Vicente Sandoval and Abraham Mitra and leaders environmental groups in the province have expressed deep concern about the implications of its expanded operations. In its almost 25 years of operation, Rio Tuba Mining had already produced an accumulated mine waste of 35 million metric tons, which is enough to blanket Metro Manila with toxic mine waste.

Already stripped of its nickel ore deposits, Rio Tuba is now raring to venture into a bigger and more environmentally hazardous project: the construction and operation of a hydrometallurgical processing plant that would produce nickel out of the accumulated wastes.

The plant is designed to produce some 10,000 dry metric tons of nickel from lowgrade ore extracted from Rio Tuba’s open pit mines. To do this, a massive amount of sulfuric acid would be imported from Japan at the rate of 270,000 metric tons annually or 5.4 million metric tons in 20 years.

A proposed 280-meter causeway to support the sulfuric acid pipeline of the project will be built on top of live corals, which is adjacent to a mangrove area, a sea grass bed and coral reef formation.

Aside from sulfuric acid, methanol and sulfur gas – all deadly chemicals – will become part of the processing plant’s operation. According to experts, sulfuric acid can cause coughing, irritation of the eyes and respiratory tract as well as dental problems. Methanol can cause blindness when it enters the skin. And hydrogen sulfide gas can cause respiratory paralysis and brain damage due to hyperventilation.

Dr. Romeo Quejano, a toxicologist from the UP-PGH who has conducted studies on mining disasters like Marcopper in Marinduque, said mine tailings like mercury, arsenic and cadmium turn to dust and may settle in the water system. Although part of the project is the construction of a tailings dam, the proposed design does not ensure the containment of heavy metals and other toxic substances in the mine tailings.

Aside from the processing plant, the project also involves the construction of a limestone quarry on Mt. Gotok, home to a number of indigenous families who consider the mountain sacred. Quarrying activities will not only drive away the natives but also wipe out old-growth forests as well as precious and endangered plants and animals, some of which are on the verge of extinction.

The foreseen damage from this project is therefore much greater than the possible benefits. Nickel being extracted from Rio Tuba is non-renewable. It is an strategic component in industrialization and such a limited resource must be conserved. Exhausting the nickel supply in Rio Tuba means we have to import that precious metal when the time comes when we need it most.

Rio Tuba’s mining concession covers 5,265 hectares and for its new venture, about $150 million is being invested, largely financed by Sumitomo and the Japanese government.

Joselito Alisog, former head of the PCSD, said they had set certain conditions before approval of Rio Tuba’s Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) but these were not included in the final environmental clearance for the project.

We cannot gamble the future of our land and people at such a cost. Rio Tuba Mining’s environmental clearance must be immediately revoked.

We, the Filipino people, must join our countrymen in Palawan in stopping and deactivating this ecological time bomb.