Families moved out as tunnels in mining town discharge water

BAGUIO CITY — Government geologists and mine engineers have temporarily relocated 12 families from the vicinity of an old tunnel outlet that began discharging an unusually high volume of water last week in the Benguet mining town of Itogon.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources on Saturday inspected an old tunnel of Atlas Mining and Development Corp. and a neighboring open pit mine where the water may have emanated, said Fay Apil, Cordillera director of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau on Monday.

Runoff

Runoff water from strong monsoon rains last week collected at the open pit mine and may have found its way to unused but interconnected underground tunnels that may have weakened through the years, Apil said.

Small-scale mining operations, which developed their own tunnels, also crisscross the area.

The water expelled from the old tunnel raised the level of a local creek near Goldfields Elementary School, which alarmed local residents in Barangay Poblacion when it led to flash floods, said Reynaldo Digamo, Cordillera EMB director.

But the school held regular classes on Monday. —Vincent Cabreza