Severe mercury contamination induced by gold hunters threatens Venezuela's eco-system
AFTER Latin America was plundered 400
years ago -by Spanish, conquistadors
guided by the triple goals of "Gold,
Glory and God", today, reckless
exploitation of another El Dorado on
the continent - Venezuela's Bolivar
province - is threatening to destroy the
unique Amazonian flora and fauna,
besides subjecting the inhabitants to
considerable health risks.
Untapped gold reserves down
Venezuela's Orinoco and Caroni rivers
are estimated at above 8,000 tonnes -
roughly 12 per cent of the world's
proven reserves. About 5,000 tonnes
alone is found at the surface level, suitable for open-cast mining and panning
operations.
Recent tests have verified that the
extent of mercury pollution in both the
rivers has long since exceeded all permissible limits. Freddt Bareat, head,
ecology division of Edelca - the organisation responsible for developmental
activit.ies on the Caroni river, said,
"However, with new gold strikes, the
number of prospectors has gone up
tremendously over the past years, and
despite the blanket ban on the'use of
mercury near watefbodies, miners continue to use it with impunity."
The only group entitled to carry out
gold mining operations is the state-
owned Corporation Venezolana de
Guay4n. But reports state that there are
at least 15,000 illegal miners in the area.
"Unchecked mercury pollution
transmitted to humans through drinking water and fish could be the cause of
terrible health problems in the years to
come," warns Brazilian expert Marcello
Veiga. Mercury causes sight and speech
defects, kidney problems and even brain
damage. More seriously, there are
apprehensions that birth defects among
future newborns could also occur.
Surveys conducted in April 1995 on
,21-9 fish species in the Orinoco and
Caroni rivers support Veiga's suspicions
- at least 42 per cent of the fish displayed a mercury (Hg) concentration of
2.70 pprn Hg (five times more than the
permitted upper limit of 0.5 pprn Hg in
humans).
Experts speculate that mercury concentration in the Guayana highland may
further decimate the already dwindling
species of crocodiles, caimans, piranha
and other marine species. The 3 1,000 ha
of forests around the rivers are home to
endangered parakeets and the tapir (a
rare wild pig).
A clean-up programme has been
jointly launched by the "environment
ministry, Edelca. and the us Geological
Service; limited fishing and reduced fish
intake has been advised (especially of
the "payara", displaying the highest
metal concentrations), which, however,
has not satisfied environmentalists.
They demanded a strict ban on the use
of mercury.
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