FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 21 February 2002 * CEE BANKWATCH * ECOTOPIA * FOOD FIRST INFORMATION AND ACTION NETWORK * FRIENDS OF THE EARTH CZECH REPUBLIC * FRIENDS OF THE EARTH EUROPE * FRIENDS OF THE EARTH HUNGARY * HELLENIC MINING WATCH * MINERAL POLICY CENTER
CYANIDE MINING HAZARDS ENDANGER COMMUNITIES, ENVIRONMENT
New Report Shows Lax Oversight of Cyanide Mining Leaves Public Unprotected Environmental/human rights groups call on EU and UN not to sanction cyanide process mining
February 21 - Community groups and NGOs in Europe and the United States today issued a report exposing the danger of unregulated cyanide compound releases from mines around the world. Decoding Cyanide: an Assessment of Gaps in Cyanide Regulation at Mines reveals that current government and industry regulations and procedures fail to test for many of these potentially toxic agents. They also fail to address the issues that are of most concern to the public - protecting communities, human rights, and land and water resources. The report was provided to the European Union (EU) Commission as input for its February 22nd Brussels meeting on cyanide leach mining. "We call upon the EU to acknowledge that cyanide based mining can not be a sustainable technology," said Maria Kadoglou of Hellenic Mining Watch. "Decoding Cyanide shows that cyanide mining is inherently damaging to communities and the environment," she continued. The report is also intended to inform the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) as to the folly of industry self regulation as UNEP develops its own code for cyanide based mining. "There is little enforcement of existing inadequate, compulsory mining environmental regulations," said Vojtech Kotecky of Friends of the Earth Czech Republic. "Rather than allow the industry to regulate itself, the UNEP should encourage the enactment of meaningful standards. and their enforcement." In part due to the regulatory inadequacies identified in Decoding Cyanide, community groups and NGOs in countries around the world have called for or successfully enacted bans on the use of cyanide in mining. The Czech Republic banned cyanide leaching in 2000. In Montana, USA, where the state motto is 'The Treasure State' because of its rich mining history, a citizen's initiative banned cyanide-process open-pit mining. In Turkey and Greece courts have ruled against cyanide leach gold mine proposals because of the dangers to people and environment. However, both the UNEP and the EU initiatives don't address these regulatory inadequacies and the fundamental problems of cyanide leaching. "As currently drafted these initiatives would effectively greenwash the mining industry," said Stephen D'Esposito, President of Mineral Policy Center. "They would create the public perception that the regulatory inadequacies have been addressed --- without actually requiring the fundamental changes necessary to protect communities and the environment," he continued. Submitted to both the UNEP and the EU, among the key findings of Decoding Cyanide: - Mining waste should be regulated in the same manner as other chemical or industrial waste. - The public needs independent studies and monitoring. Even the UNEP cyanide code development process is largely funded and driven by industry-hence it gives largely their perspective. - We don't know whether numerous cyanide compounds are present in mining wastes, and at what concentrations. Answers to many questions about the presence, persistence, and toxicity of cyanide and related compounds in the environment are lacking. - Mining cyanide-leach wastes have the potential to negatively impact municipal sewage and water treatment procedures, potentially causing human intake of several toxic substances to increase. -- END -- For more information contact: Apostolis Paralikas, ECOTOPIA, Greece, + 3010 3247364 Jozsef Feiler, CEE Bankwatch Network, Hungary, +361 217 0803 Maria Kadoglou, Hellenic Mining Watch, Greece, +30 310 234575 Stephen D'Esposito, Mineral Policy Center, USA, +1 202-887-1872x203 Ulrich Mueller, FoodFirst Information & Action Network, Germany, +49 2323 49 00 99 Vojtech Kotecky, Friends of the Earth Czech Republic, +420-2-22512057
Copies of Decoding Cyanide can be found on the web at FOE Czech Republic - http://www.hnutiduha.cz/publikace/studie/kyanidova_studie.pdf Food First Information & Action Network Germany - http://www.fian.de/gold/DecodingCyanide.pdf Hellenic Mining Watch - http://antigoldgreece.tripod.com/en/index.htm Mineral Policy Center - http://www.mineralpolicy.org/publications/pdf/DecodingCyanide.PDF
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