Fish near mine spill site safe, says BFAR

DAGUPAN CITY—Officials of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) assured fishermen operating around San Roque Dam in San Manuel town that the tilapia they grow and harvest from the reservoir are safe for consumption.

They made the assurance after a second set of tests confirmed that the fish were free from heavy metal contamination. The test was requested by San Roque Power Corp. following the Aug. 1 leak of the mine wastes facility operated by Philex Mining Corp. at its Benguet mine.

Nestor Domenden, BFAR Ilocos director, said the first test was conducted on August 6, five days after Philex confirmed that its tailings pond had breached and had discharged mine waste into the tributaries of Agno River that flow toward the dam.

Samples for the second test were collected on September 5, which were analyzed from Sept. 18 to 27. The results were released to the Philippine Daily Inquirer only on Tuesday.

The results showed that fish subjected to tests did not contain heavy metals like lead, cadmium and copper. The fish contained traces of arsenic and mercury but these did not exceed safe levels, said the BFAR.

The BFAR seeded the dam with tilapia and carp fingerlings. It had banned fishing at the dam after the accident. The agency lifted the ban on Aug. 28 after the first test showed that the tilapia samples were safe for eating.

Domenden said schools of tilapia dwell near the surface of most inland waterways. Yolanda Sotelo, with a report from Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon