Benguet mine spill destroys rice fields
2 MIN READ
By KIMBERLIE NGABIT-QUITASOL
www.nordis.net
LA TRINIDAD, Benguet — The mine silt leak from the inactive Antamok mine tailings pond into the Liang River in Itogon resulted to fish kill and flooded rice fields, according to reports.
“There were reported cases of rice fields being covered with silt and some tilapia cultivated along the Liang River being killed when mine silt flowed into the river,” Benguet Governor Crescencio Pacalso said on October 28.
He said that as early as October 21, right after typhoon Lawin ravaged north Luzon, reports of mine tailings spilling into the Liang River have already reached his office. “The first report says that the Antamok 440 open pit was filled to brim with silt and overflowed to the tailings pond until the silt found its way to the diversion tunnel and exited to the river,” he said. Pacalso added that reports claimed that “a funnel-like subsidence” occurred in the middle of the tailings pond.
He said that at the moment, the provincial government is monitoring Benguet Corporation’s implementation of mitigating measures. He said that the mining company is accordingly building a canal to divert the tailings spill from the open pit away from the funnel-like subsidence to the penstock.
“We are closely monitoring the implementation of the mitigating measures especially with the threat of another typhoon, which we hope will not be as strong and devastating as Lawin,” he said.
Pacalso said they are still waiting for a full report from the Benguet Corporation about the real cause of the overflowing and subsidence and the progress of the mitigating measures.
He added that the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) is still calculating the amount of silt that flowed to the Liang River, a subsidiary of the Agno River. “Like what happened in Philex, the amount of silt expelled to the river will determine the fines to be paid by Benguet Corporation,” he said.
In a press statement, Benguet Corporation said that the leak of mine tailings from Antamok tailings impoundment area is now under control. The company said heavy rains due to typhoon Lawin and a breach in the underground drain tunnel caused the leak.
The company’s preliminary estimates showed only a 50,000 metric tons of tailings material leaked into Liang River. # nordis.net
