TACLOBAN CITY?The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) in Eastern Visayas was finalizing the rehabilitation plan for Bagacay Mine, an abandoned mine site that had caused pollution in a major river in Samar.
Danilo Uykieng, MGB regional director, said the rehabilitation work would include reforestation, repair of drainage systems and soil stabilization.
?We will be putting up engineering structures to arrest soil erosion to prevent acid drainage pollution (in the Guila-guila Creek and Taft River),? Uykieng said Wednesday at the sideline of a solid waste management summit held in nearby Palo, Leyte.
He said workers have planted trees at the mine site this year.
Positive results
He said they were also building a limestone rock dam, which would filter the acid that goes to nearby creeks and rivers.
?The result is positive,? said Uykieng.
He said he and other officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) were to present the rehabilitation plan to the mayor, vice mayor, councilors and village officials of Bagacay in Hinabangan, Samar, Thursday.
But he said it would take five to 10 years for the full rehabilitation of the Bagacay Mine.
Uykieng, however, did not say how much funds were allotted for the rehabilitation project.
He said other DENR divisions are also involved in the rehabilitation project, such as those on forestry, research and protected areas.
River?s death
Located in Barangay Bagacay, Hinabangan, Samar, about 105 km from Tacloban City, the abandoned mine site was blamed for the death of the Taft River, one of the major rivers on Samar Island that became a catch basin for mine tailings.
The Marinduque Mining and Industrial Corp., which had a 25-year Mining Lode Lease Contract in the area starting August 1985, abandoned the place in 1992.
Philippine Pyrite Corp. took over Bagacay Mine in 1986 but also left the area in 1992 due to rising operating costs.
The Privatization and Management Office, formerly known as the Assets Privatization Trust of the Department of Finance, currently manages the mine, which tops the DENR?s priority list for mine rehabilitation.
