The opening of new mines would put drinking water in western Andalusia at risk of contamination.
A study by the Spanish New Water Culture Foundation (Fundación Nueva Cultura del Agua) proposes a moratorium on mining projects “until the effects of the accumulation of mining pollutants in rivers and aquifers have been studied in depth”.
“If the projects that are in the exploration phase and those that have been announced are carried out, or even some of them, the situation of the rivers will come dangerously close to water collapse, that is, to the inability to maintain [rivers] and valleys that are not only ecologically viable, but also economically viable for all human activities that require drinking water, such as agriculture, fishing and tourism. If this does not happen during the short period of mining operations (15-20 years), it could very well happen after the end of mining operations, given the persistence of this pollution.”
This is how the report “The Impact of Mining in Western Andalusia”, coordinated by the ‘New Water Culture Foundation’ and drawn up by experts from the University of Seville and the Pablo de Olavide University, explains the risks posed by the proliferation of mining projects that intend to continue exploiting the pyrite belt, an area rich in sulphides. The study proposes a moratorium on new mines “until the effects of the accumulation of mining pollutants in rivers and aquifers and their impact on agricultural areas, fishing activities and water for human consumption have been studied in depth”.
Speaking at the launch of the report, Joan Corominas, Director of the Foundation, said: “Pollution will last for centuries. We should be concerned about what has been done and we need to look ahead. The commitment to this model of extractivism without a transparent debate that would allow society to make informed decisions is worrying. Society needs to mobilise.”
One of the authors of the study, Jesús Castillo, Professor of Ecology at the University of Seville, who has studied 169 scientific articles that support the harmful effects of mining on the environment, said: “There is clear evidence of metal contamination in agricultural soils, as well as in plants and animals, including fish, snails and molluscs in estuaries and on the continental shelf.”
Thus, for these scientists, the continuation of the mining projects currently in the exploration phase and those that have been announced will also turn the Guadalquivir estuary into a ‘sewer’ that will affect fishing in the Gulf of Cadiz, which, according to their data, “is the ocean in the world’s seas that receives the most heavy metals”. “Neither the authorities nor the public are aware of the serious threat to life, the economy and society”, said another expert, Professor Felix Talego.
Ongoing projects
The report lists the following projects by river basin. In the Guadalquivir, “Aguablanca has announced the resumption of its activities, and Mina Las Cruces has obtained permits to expand its mining operations and to double the amount of wastewater and dissolved metals it has discharged into the Guadalquivir since it began operating in 2009”.
In the Guadiamar, “at the time of writing, the reopening of the Los Frailes mine has just been approved, with plans to discharge even more toxic waste into the Guadalquivir than that announced by Mina Las Cruces. There is no study that has calculated what the sum of the two discharges will mean for the estuary, a total abdication of responsibility on the part of the authorities.”
In the same Guadiamar valley, “the Salomé and La Romana projects have been approved”. “In addition to what they will pollute during their active life, the waste they leave behind will affect the Guadalquivir estuary and the Doñana National Park”.
In Tinto-Odiel we are witnessing “an increase in the exploitation of Cerro Colorado and the opening of other mines, such as Masa Valverde”. “In order to accommodate the excess of toxic waste, the Junta has authorised the expansion of the Ríotinto sludge ponds, which are already leaking”, the report says.
Another company, the experts add, “has announced the construction of a new pond in the municipalities of Almonaster, Cortegana and Cerro del Andévalo, on the slopes of the Odiel basin, with the characteristics and dimensions of the one destroyed in Aznalcóllar, as well as the reopening of the Concepción mine”. Meanwhile, in Tharsis and La Zarza-Perrunal, “studies are being carried out to reopen Filón Norte and La Zarza, respectively”.
In the Chanza-Guadiana there are “two projects which, if carried out, will poison the entire basin with greater or lesser lethality, years before or after”. Valdegrama would be located at the source of the Rivera de Alcalaboza, “a watercourse that maintains an excellent biodiversity along its entire course”. The second project, Romanera, “would be located in the heart of the area that collects the water that feeds the Andévalo reservoir, which is vital for the human and economic activities of a large part of the regions of El Condado, Huelva and the coast”. “And even other multinationals proudly announce that they are looking for minerals in the same area of Andévalo”, the study adds.
With a certain irony, the study points to the role played by the Junta de Andalucía. It states that the regional government “has responded eagerly to the mining frenzy generated by the so-called energy revolution and the demand for strategic raw materials, [and] in the province of Huelva alone, has released more than ninety expired mining projects, covering some 65,000 hectares of land in 30 municipalities, from Ayamonte in the south to Cortegana in the north and Escacena and Paterna del Campo in the east”.
The experts, according to a statement issued by the University of Seville, pointed out that “the consequences of metal mining in western Andalusia are visible: extensive areas of natural use, soil, vegetation and landscape destroyed, the river network, including the Odiel and Guadalquivir rivers, deeply contaminated with acidic water and heavy metals, contamination that extends to the Huelva estuary and the Atlantic coastal waters, also posing a threat to groundwater”.
In fact, according to the report, “the Tinto and Odiel rivers are the world’s largest contributors of toxic pollutants from mining to the oceans, and the Guadalquivir estuary is also affected, which also threatens the Doñana National Park”.
