Lat/Am Daily » Environment

Kick some ass

Peter Krupa — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 22:35:48 +0000

Peru’s El Comercio is reporting that a reservoir holding chemical left-overs from a mining operation collapsed, contaminating the Opamayo River, killing a bunch of fish, and polluting god knows what else.

According to MineralMundi, the Caudalosa Chica mine is used for extracting silver, copper, lead, and Zinc. Government sources are estimating that 21,400 cubic meters of toxic material escaped the reservoir, though the article doesn’t specify what kind of toxic material is involved.

When an open-pit goldmine in Costa Rica was shut down in 2007 on fears that something similar was about to happen, the chemical causing concern was cyanide. Not sure if that’s the case here.

Supposedly the Caudalosa Chica mine has polluted things before.

It would be easy to jump all over whatever mining company is at fault, but let’s be honest, mining companies and any other profit-motivated corporations will go as far as you let them. We know this for a fact. It’s what they’re designed to do: pursue profit where they can get it.

At the heart of the matter, therefore, these environmental catastrophes are the government’s fault, for not requiring strict enough safety procedures, for not funding the institutions charged with enforcing those safety procedures, and for not having strong enough punitive measures in place to punish companies who dodge the rules and to make damn sure any clean-ups are well funded.

Post-disaster, the government usually attempts a neat responsibility dodge, a la Barack Obama’s declared desire to kick BP executive ass. But really, the asses that deserve kicking are seated in nice leather chairs located in a statehouse somewhere.

Ranchers sentenced in murder of nun

Peter Krupa — Tue, 04 May 2010 03:32:18 +0000

Two Brazilian ranchers were sentenced to 30 years in prison apiece for ordering the killing of an environmentalist nun: “Prosecutors said the pair offered to pay a gunman $25,000 to kill the 73-year-old [Dorothy] Stang because she had prevented them from stealing a piece of land that the government had granted to a group of poor farmers.” [link]

Save our Park! Oh, and the turtles, too.

Dave Sherwood — Mon, 03 May 2010 19:48:03 +0000

Playa Grande, the turtle's primary nesting beach, is dark. But is anybody worried about the lights next door? Photo by Dave Sherwood

Legislation to downgrade Costa Rica’s Las Baulas National Park to a refuge has been shelved – at least for now. The country’s transnational environmental lobby is sighing relief.

But what about the turtles?

Downgrading a park is admittedly poor form – and sets an awful precedent. The reality, however, is that the critically endangered leatherback doesn’t need a lousy paper park – it needs comprehensive, holistic management that looks at all threats, not just those presented by a group of surly real estate investors on shore.

Of course, as with most environmental debates, this one is complex. There are no simple solutions. Las Baulas National Park harbors the single most important leatherback nesting beach in Central America. And species’ populations have plummeted 97% in 30 years. But the gargantuan legal battle required to expropriate private beachfront property inside the park is a distraction.

While we protest, bicker and carry on, time is running out for the leatherback. Last year, just 30 nested here, down by half from the year before and 1,500 two decades ago (before the ‘park’ was established, incidentally).

Unlike signing a petition on Facebook, navigating government bureaucracy and ineptitude and imposing order on the hundreds of absentee investors in neighboring Tamarindo who pump fecal matter and shine lights (see above) into the leatherback’s bedroom or mitigating sea turtle bycatch in vast international waters requires real commitment - and doesn’t package well in a bulk mailer or mass email.

Too bad for the turtles – but at least the beach is pretty.