After rains, tailings flow into river in Palawan

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Philippines— Tailings from the siltation pond of a large-scale nickel mining company operating in Sofronio  Española town in southern Palawan province have contaminated a major river tributary following heavy rains since Friday, local officials said.

Sofronio Española Mayor Marcelito Acoy, in a phone interview on Monday, said the extent of contamination caused by mine wastes from Citinickel Mines and Development Corp. in  Pulot River, a source of potable water for the town

160 kilometers south of this city, was still being assessed.

Residents, however, have appealed for immediate assistance, saying they have no other water sources. Even wells dug near the riverbank are contaminated, they said.

Citinickel acknowledged in a statement on Monday that one of the company’s siltation ponds was “scoured” following heavy rains on Saturday morning, “causing water to be released into the river.”

“We have taken all necessary steps to mitigate, if not eliminate the inconvenience caused to them (residents), including providing them with an alternative source of clean water,” it said.

Citinickel, a company of the Filipino-owned Tanchay Group that holds several mining concessions in various parts of the country, is engaged in nickel ore mining in the towns of Narra and Sofronio Española.

At least a 5-kilometer stretch of the river was contaminated, Acoy said. Residents have described it as “chocolate-colored.”

“We cannot use the river anymore. We can’t even let our animals drink water from it because it is very dangerous,” farmer Michael Lagrada said in Filipino in another phone interview.

Last year, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau suspended Citinickel operations temporarily following a similar case of laterite (oil rich in iron, aluminum and nickel ores) contamination of portions of Sofronio Española’s coastal area.

The mining company is also facing stiff opposition from the Tagbanua and Palawan tribes that had initially agreed to allow its operations in their ancestral lands but withdrew support over its failure to pay royalty funds to them.