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OPINIONS
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(August
25 – August 31, 2008) EDITORIAL Replaying ‘Minamata’? (The
following is an article written by Juan L. Mercado—Ed) Deaths
and injuries, resulting from clashes with MILF “rouge units,” dominate
today’s headlines and evening news.
But the more lethal threat is less visible—and far stealthier. It
could continue to decimate well into the next decade. Heavy
metals pollute major water ways, says the just-published report on the 1st Scientific Conference on the vital Agusan
Marsh. Toxic mercury is seeping into the food chain: thru irrigation channels
and from rivers that empty into fishing grounds. Tainted silt is plowed into rice paddies Are we
seeing the nightmare of In
1956, fish and mussels, contaminated by mercury discharged by a chemical
plant, poisoned 2,252 men, women and children in Minimata, Japan. Photos of over 1,043 victims afflicted by
brain lesions, tremors, paralysis and miscarriages, startled the world. “Mercury
pollution is a threat to the Agusan marsh,” Tests
on weekly rice, fish and mussel diets in mining areas revealed presence of
mercury thrice permissible levels, she said. “Such high mercury exposure
levels of local populations may explain why 38% were classified as
Hg-intoxicated.” A
Mindanao State University survey detected mercury in sediments “from seven
stations that stretched from the mouth of Agusan River to approximately 10
kilometers away…Mercury turned up in fish and aquatic plants collected from
(the) river.…” Roa’s
study buttresses earlier studies. Among these are: (a) the 1982 report by
Rosita Fundador that mercury contaminated
some Davao Gulf fish and seashells.( b )
“Heavy Metals Contamination in the Davao Region”, written” by
University of Southeastern Philippines . Ed Prantilla and Carmelita Martinez
last year. Over
13.5 metric tons of toxic mercury slosh yearly, thru rivers, into the Lead
and cadmium overloads led to ecological collapse of the 194-hectare Lake
Leonard – or “ A 2006 study, by the Department of Health’s
Region XI office, found: “fish samples from Davao Oriental, Davao del Sur and
Drs.
Nelia Maramba and Cristina S. Dablo found elevated mercury levels in the
blood and urine of 114 schoolchildren and 70 miners they examined. And in the
1990s, carabaos keeled over mysteriously in Barangay Naboc. Mercury and
cyanide, in irrigation water, may have caused those deaths. Illegal
mercury supplies seep through Most of
796 operations get mercury illicitly. “Annual mercury consumption of Davao
Region, due to gold processing, amounted to 13,524 kilograms of mercury.” But
this can be curbed from “the user side,” i.e. government imposing strict
compliance with environmental laws. That’d include small miners. Government
could clamp a condition: polluters pay
for damage they incur. Pollution taxes should underwrite treatment for
victims. There is a need, too, of
cleansing polluted seas and water systems. Heavy metals ought to be factored
into wastewater discharge fees. “Government
action on high levels of mercury in certain species of fish caught in Agusan
Marsh is one of the country’s most ecologically important wetlands. The river
basin stores 15% of the country’s freshwater resources. Now, chemical and
other pollutants now cause fish kills, reduced oxygen levels, habitat
destruction” and health problems, Roa writes. The
limited pollution studies on the Agusan Marsh cause concern. “(Mercury) level
in Prantilla
and Many
remain unaware of the dangers posed.
An information campaign by government, academe and civil society is
urgent. But the threat is played down with arguments that caution against
economic disruption in mining. The
Minamata tragedy underscores there are heavy costs from failure to take the
long view. Today’s wishy-washy attitude turns a blind eye on the effects of
heavy-metal pollution. It limits vision to short-term benefits. “(But)
available studies are already a cause for alarm.” Ilocos Times copyright 2008 |
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