In today’s environmental column, we reject the concepts most often used by the mining industry to sell the message of “sustainable mining” or “environmental mining”.
The right to a healthy environment, in Art. 41 of the National Constitution, he declared, as well as the duty of the State and its institutions to provide free access to information given not only in the National Constitution, but also in the Pact of Escazú. which is often not observed. This is the case with other tunnels. Where the demand or protest of the people to defend their rights and quality of life is affected by this action, it is frequently raised.
But let’s go to the parties. Mining is the activity of extracting resources (gold, silver, copper, iron, salt, among others) that are useful for industry and daily life, and there are more than 2 million publications documenting this activity. it causes negative impacts on water, air and soil. In addition to the impact on human life, there have been cases of respiratory disease, cancer, heart disease and other health problems in mining operations and in the communities around the mines. According to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO), environmental pollution is responsible for 1 in 4 premature deaths worldwide. In addition, due to work accidents in this industry, it is estimated that mining in Argentina has the largest share of deaths with an average number of deaths of 378.5 per million workers, the highest value of all productive provinces. Also in various academic papers, due to the impact of water pollution mining, it is necessary to consider water not only as a resource for human consumption, but also as a crucial element for the health of the community, Fauna and Flora is illustrated. . This is important if we consider that humanity is responsible for the extinction of 83% of mammals and half of the plant species in the world. In addition, with regard to the social consequences, these works mention that the job of suspicion, overcrowding and growth in electronics are little problems associated with the mining of resource extraction.
Despite all this scientific evidence, someone concerned with pole mining might say “environmentalists rely on sayings and myths”, or make some strange analogy to convince them that mining is not bad, like argumentative fallacies, like “agriculture uses more water”. or “the river in which we use water is called RÃo Salado, it is concluded that no one uses water and it is useless for anything else.” I had the privilege of hearing a Mendoza mining official make an analogy between mate and the use of cyanide and in the same speech (for professionals from the Pampas), defending the mining and hydroelectric power generation ventures proposed by the province. of Mendoza, such as Crocus mountain and Portezuelo del Viento.
It is true that agriculture contaminates and presents the highest consumption of water, yet mining is an activity that, if accidents occur, can cause damage with incalculable damage and loss of ecosystem assets, infrastructure and human life. Such a case could be seen in 2019 when, in Brazil, a mining tailings matrix erupted, resulting in a major environmental disaster, where some 50 people died and between 200 and 300 disappeared due to the corruption of the SNOW HORSE (without considering the environmental burdens that have yet to disappear. in the region today such as water and soil contamination and habitat loss).
Environmental issues and related issues are legitimate. Go to La Pampa asking us not to pollute the neighboring provinces. The people in general will continue to rise in favor of a healthy situation. That’s why I confirm again, NO to Cerro Amarillo, NO to Hierro Indio, NO to Potasio RÃo Colorado. The Pampas are also the rivers Atuel, Salado and Colorado. We cannot allow ourselves to be sold with colored mirrors for our safety and for our future and posterity.
Engineer in Natural Resources and Environment. MPNº ​​365. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
