End to mercury-induced mining in Vizcaya village sought

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya — The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) has sought the immediate dismantling of the facilities of small-scale mines in a remote mountain village here for fear of deadly substance contamination.

Engineer Jerrysal Mangaoang, MGB director for Cagayan Valley, said hundreds of illegally-dug up tunnels in the mineral-rich Barangay Didipio in Kasibu town here should be dismantled to prevent the villagers and their potable sources of water from further contamination with mercury.

"The illegal (small-scale) mining in Didipio should be stopped once and for all to prevent the loss of lives and contamination of rivers with deadly chemicals such as mercury," he said.

He said dynamite and chemically-induced small-scale mining operation is not suited in Didipio with its type of mineral deposits, which he said can only be extracted by a large-scale mining operation that will not use deadly substances or chemicals and explosives.

Vice Gov. Jose Gambito, also the chairman of the provincial small-scale mining regulatory board, called on other concerned authorities as well as environmentalist to help educate small miners over the hazardous effects of their processes instead of forcing them to leave the mining site.

"I’m calling on honest anti-mining advocates and environmentalists to show their sincerity in helping us stop this illegal mining activities," Gambito said.

Mangaoang and Gambito’s statement came after initial survey findings conducted by the state-run Nueva Vizcaya State University (NVSU) here showed blood samples taken from some of the Didipio residents were found contaminated with mercury.

"The diggings may not turn the village into an underground graveyard just like the Mount Diwalwal gold-rush site, but the findings of mercury contamination there already caused alarm for us," said Gambito.

The findings were subsequently validated by St. Luke’s Hospital, which showed that the blood samples taken from some residents have above normal mercury content.

"Our study has shown the presence of above normal mercury in blood samples. This is just one study that has to be replicated. But even with this, people should be aware of the danger that mercury is there," said Dr. Marilou Abon, NVSU president.

Besides blood samples, water samples taken at the village’s major rivers — Camgat, Surong and Didipio — also all showed mercury contamination beyond the safe levels set by the DENR.

Water samples from these rivers, the study said, contain mercury at 0.0002 milligram per liter. Based on the subsequent analysis by the University of the Philippines’ National Science Research Institute (NSRI), this is above the tolerable level of 0.0001 milligram per liter.

The study pointed out that mercury detection in the village was believed to have been caused by the continued illegal small-scale mining operation in the area, which use unregulated explosives and chemicals.

Although the NVSU survey indicates low levels of mercury on water, stream sediment samples taken from waterbeds show high mercury content of up to 4000 ppm, indicating poisonous water flowing into irrigation canals and seeping into the water table and drunk as potable water by the villagers.

The survey added that the rice paddies in the area could have already been contaminated with mercury, further exposing the villagers with the deadly substance. Because of its highly-toxic nature, the government bans the use of mercury in small-scale mining operations.

MGB Mining Tenements Director Leo Jasareno said mercury is a controlled chemical substance and the government discourages its use.

Undocumented small-scale miners in the area have been reportedly utilizing mercury to extract gold from rocks. After grinding the mineral-containing rock into a ball mill, they burn mercury to take out the gold.

Jasareno said the MGB did not issue any permit for mercury use as vaporizing metallic liquid mercury in the heating process is very dangerous to human health.

Once mercury is inhaled, it goes to the lungs and 80 percent of it is retained by the body, dissolved in fatty tissue, and can damage the central nervous system. Mercury exposure also causes damage to the kidney, cardiovascular and immunological system, brain, spinal cord, and liver.

Moreover, continued human intake of mercury-containing fish, accumulated over time, can impair a person’s ability to feel, see, move and taste, causes numbness, tunnel vision, and eventually leads to coma, and death.