House probe of black sand mining welcome–gov

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan—Gov. Amado Espino Jr. said he welcomed a congressional inquiry into black sand mining on the coast of Lingayen Gulf, which was ordered stop last Jan. 25 by the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB).

Bayan Muna Rep. Teodoro Casiño initiated the inquiry on Feb. 2, after receiving complaints that mining was threatening to destroy the gulf itself.

The provincial government said it allowed Xypher Builder to extract black sand from the shores of a 286-hectare government reservation area near the Lingayen Gulf, which it intends to transform into an ecotourism zone.

A team of soil analysts said magnetite sand (black sand) found near a proposed 18-hole golf course would contaminate turf grass and other ornamental plants and trees, which a Korean developer intends to introduce in the area, officials said.

The provincial government said garden soil has replaced the extracted black sand, but EMB stopped the extraction.

In a statement, Espino said: “The sooner, the better [for an inquiry] to end once and for all [this] controversy.”

Espino also invited journalists to investigate on their own. “There should be no whitewash. The probers must go for the truth,” said Espino, a former congressman.

He said the controversy has discouraged two groups of Korean investors, who suspended work on a venture to build a retirement village and an electric car manufacturing facility there.

But a provincial government statement said a separate group of Korean investors would pursue manufacturing and seaborne tourism enterprises.

In a resolution he submitted to the House committee on natural resources, Casiño said the Jan. 25 order by EMB was the second that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources issued against black sand mining.

“I am curious how the operators were able to go around the first order and what they will do to go around this second one,” said Casiño.

He said, however, that he commends DENR for issuing the second order.

DENR records said the agency first stopped operations of Alexandra Mining and Oil Ventures last year for not having an environmental compliance certificate. Xypher Builders, however, resumed the black sand mining.

“Apparently, large-scale mining companies in cahoots with corrupt government officials are illegally extracting magnetite in the guise of dredging, real estate development and even ecotourism,” said Casiño in a statement.

“This is happening not only in Lingayen but in other parts of the country. This is why it is important for Congress to investigate this environmentally-hazardous racket,” he said.

Kim Dong Pil, a Chicago-based Korean businessman, said: “We have asked the governor to clear the area of black sand. Otherwise, we cannot proceed with our planned tree plantation project in the ecotourism zone.” Yolanda Sotelo, Inquirer Northern Luzon