The Campaign Continues: Results of the Parallel Audit of the Kori Kollo Mine
Mónica Zelma Rocha Bellot, Intern for CEPA an UMAVIDA partner in Bolivia, translated by Chenoa Stock, Companionship Facilitator, JH Bolivia
An Agreement is Made
Taking water samples in the Tailings Dam Zone Photo Credit: Technical University of Oruro
The extraction of natural resources through mining oftentimes results in the destruction of the ecosystems in those areas. This has been the case of the Kori Kollo open-pit mining operations of the Inti Raymi SA Company.
Open-pit mining removes great volumes of land from the earth and requires the use of large quantities of chemical compounds such as sodium cyanide in the process of extracting minerals. This destructive process and the environmental damage posed to communities from the mining contamination have led to the mobilization of affected communities, which have made multiple denouncements of the mining concession to the government, ultimately achieving an environmental audit of the Kori Kollo mining operations of the Inti Raymi SA Company contracted by the government.
The community group, CORIDUP (Coordinator in Defense of the Desaguadero River and the Uru Uru and Poopó Lakes), requested that the Technical University of Oruro (TUO) carry out a parallel environmental in order to confirm and/or contradict the results of the government contracted audit,
In February of 2011, an inter-institutional agreement was signed to initiate the parallel audit. Two years later, on May 10, 2013, the final study, “Environmental and Multitemporal Study of the Area of Influence of the Kori Kollo Mining Concession of the Inti Raymi SA Company” was presented to representatives of CORIDUP and the Center for Ecology and Andean People (CEPA).
Highlights of the Parallel Audit
Taking soil samples in the Huancaroma Zone. Photo Credit: Technical University of Oruro
This study is confined to the Desaguadero River, where the Kori Kollo mining operations are located. In the course of its 29 years, these operations have generated negative, environmental impacts on the direct and indirect Area of Influence of the mine, causing the acceleration of the salinization process of soil and water and the mobilization and bio-accummulation of heavy metals in the trophic system. This presents risks of contamination to agriculturally important plants and livestock, while negatively impacting other aspects of the environment, including water. Environmental deterioration has been verified in the results of the analysis of water and soil samples, and from aerial photographs and satellite imagery. Much of the evidence has been found in the direct Area of Influence, especially in the Kori Kollo pit.
The acceleration of the salinization process of soil, especially due to Kori Kollo mining activities, was found in the beginning of the sulphide operations in 1993, when a pit of more than 250m deep was dug for the extraction of minerals. The pit held an abundance of water, which needed to be pumped out. An evaporation/infiltration lagoon was built to serve water storage purposes.
With the objective of verifying the storage capacity of these lagoons, a hydric balance was carried out using the estimates of water entry and exits. The results established that there was an overflow of water from the evaporation/infiltration lagoons from 1998-2003, specifically in January of the mentioned years. The overflow was produced because the containment berm was overcome by the surplus of subterranean water of the Kori Kollo and Llallagua pits and precipitation.
It is known that these lagoon waters are totally salinized. Upon the detaining and breaking of the containment berm, water of poor quality flowed to the Desaguadero River and the soils of the surrounding communities. This study has noted this as a great contributor to the acceleration of the salinization process of soil in the area of study.
To conclude the discussion of the results of the parallel audit, it was proposed by the experts at TUO to investigate even further. It was determined that a case study at the biological level of affected people should be conducted. One such study has not yet been conducted for lack of resources.
With this new information, to be used as a comparison tool with the government-contracted environmental audit, we, as UMAVIDA, CEPA and CORIDUP, will continue to study the results of the parallel audit and use its data to further our campaign for environmental justice for the communities affected by the Kori Kollo mining operations.
We are now working with the San Francisco based organization, Earth Justice, to study more deeply the Bolivian and international laws and to look for other paths of advocacy which we could exercise to increase our knowledge and strengthen our campaign. We could not do this without our international partners and other experts who are committed to fair and just systemic structures for which we struggle.
