Palawan river poisoned with cancer-causing chemicals- Kalikasan PNE
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
Bulatlat.com
Environmental groups are pointing an accusing finger at irresponsible
mining operators for the worsening state of the Palawan river.
According to the Friends of the Earth Japan (FoE-Japan) and the
Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE), nickel
mining operations in Palawan Island is to blame for the contamination of
the Palawan river system. They said the river is already poisoned with
unsafe levels of carcinogenic or cancer-causing chemicals.
During a recent present conference in Quezon City, the groups
presented findings from an environmental field research study conducted
in a river located downstream near the Rio Tuba Nickel Mining
Corporation’s (RTNMC) mining operations and the Coral Bay Nickel
Processing Plant’s operation.
The study, which started in 2009, analyzed water samples and revealed
that present levels of hexavalent chromium (Cr-VI), a toxic and
carcinogenic chemical, had already exceeded safe levels in the Togupon
River. It showed that present levels of Cr-VI contamination in water
samples from the Togupon River ranged from 0.1 to 0.3 milligrams per
liter (mg/L). This exceeds the Philippines’s Cr-VI effluent standard of
0.1 to 0.2mg/L.
In the meantime, the levels of Cr-VI contamination in water samples
taken from the Togupon River’s estuary ranged from 0.05 to
0.15mg/L—exceeding both the Philippine’s Cr-VI environmental standard
of 0.05 to 0.1mg/L and the Japanese environmental standard of 0.05mg/L
by one to three times over.
A researcher from FoE-Japan Hozue Hatae said the water contamination
originated either from upstream mining or refinery operations.
Togupon River runs through the area where the nickel mining
operations of RTNMC and the nickel processing facility of Coral Bay
Nickel Corp. (CBNC) are located. Both projects are financed and pursued
in partnership with Japanese multinational corporations and
institutions, such as the Japan Bank for International Cooperation and
the Nippon Export and Investment Insurance..... MORE
Source: Bulatlat.com
URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/02/25/palawan-river-poisoned-with-cancer-causing-chemicals-kalikasan-pne/
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