NV Rivers contaminated with mercury

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya – The Mines and Geosciences Bureau regional office in Tuguegarao City confirmed yesterday a Nueva Vizcaya State University report last year that certain rivers in the province have been contaminated with mercury, in the process making all fishes and freshwater crustaceans caught there unfit for human consumption.

Aljo Jacildo, MGB regional director, confirmed that his office had received reports of the mercury contamination of rivers and streams, especially in the vicinity of Runruno village in Quezon town which has been a known site for illegal small-scale mining ventures for various metals going back decades. 

“Yes, we have received reports of mercury contamination in the said area,” Jacildo said in an interview with media­men yesterday. 

The Nueva Vizcaya State University report had indicated that the fishes and other water resources in the vicinity of Runruno village have been contaminated with mercury from illegal small-scale mining activity, in the process making them almost uneatable. 

Similar reports had been issued by the same university regarding contamination of water in the neighboring village of Didipio in Kasibu town, both researches having been made before the start of any actual large scale mining operations in both areas. 

However, authorities from the MGB had said the reports were grossly exaggerated and replete with “typographical errors” which made the report sound alarming.

To date, the British-owned FCF Minerals Inc. (also known as MTL Exploration or Metex) is still conducting exploration activities in Runruno village in Quezon town.  

Moreover, Australian-New Zealander-owned OceanaGold Philippines, the foreign firm to be contracted to handle what is to be the first large-scale mining operation in Cagayan Valley, has been bugged by legal troubles in its shift to the construction stage leading to eventual commercial operation, after years of exploration activity. 

In both cases, sources said, the effect of the big mining firms on the mercury contamination of waters in their respective areas was ruled out since both had not yet begun actual mining operations. “It is the illegal small-scale mining operators in both areas that are really at fault in the mercury contamination of the water sources there,” a source said.

According to experts, mercury and most of its compounds are extremely toxic and are generally handled with care. It can be inhaled and absorbed through the skin and mucous membranes.  

The most toxic forms of mercury are its organic compounds, such as dimethyl­mercury and methylmercury.

Case control studies have shown effects such as tremors, impaired cognitive skills, and sleep disturbance in workers with chronic exposure to mercury vapor even at low concentrations. 

A study has shown that acute exposure to mercury resulted in chest pain, dyspnea, cough, and other lung and intestinal diseases.

Acute exposure to mercury vapor has been shown to result in profound central nervous system effects, including psychotic reactions characterized by delirium, hallucinations and suicidal tendency.