Agua Vale Mas Que Oro - Impacts to the valley of Huasco

English

Impacts to the valley of Huasco

The glaciers (THE CRADLE OF THE WATER IS IN DANGER)

They are yet damaged because of the greenhouse effect.

Further yet have diminished three of the glaciers because of the interventions of the company in the 20 years in the stage of the preparations of the project in 50 to 70%. (diario siete, Tuesday, the 8th of March 2005)

a) Direct effects:

To take out the gold, they have to remove 10,2 acres of three glaciers that are placed in the zone of the mining hole. So they will damage directly a great part of the eternal ice.

The glaciers to remove are placed in the basin of the rio Toro that contributes water at the valley of San Felix y at the whole valley. The glaciers' names are: Toro 1, Toro 2, Esperanza. The "construccion of the mining hole needs the extraction of special parts of the glaciers and their translation at near sectors conform at a special handling plan"(EIA 6-17). The company thinks to remove 10,2 acres (3 % of the glaciers

View on El Amarillo Glacier

of the basin) through little explosions y translations in trucks, bulldozers and frontal loaders at a similar or not much inferior hight (EIA de 2001). A more detailed handling plan is deficient.

In this way the company hopes that the brokened ice disposed above others glaciers in the sun congeal to one.
But: how much of the eternal ice will be lost through the translation? What will they do with the permafrost under the superficies, that consists in "permanent freezed" rock(EIA 5-25)? And what impacts provoke the diminution of the glaciers? How much is the contribution of the glaciers to the water of the valley?

b) Indirect effects:

Not is known what impacts provoke the calentation of the atmosphere because of the consumption of energy, the dust in the air, and the explosions in the glaciers.

Consumption of Energy

Barrick will use approximately 6,600,000 lts of petroleum, and 90,000 lts of gasoline (EIA 2-13) each month for the explotation of the mine. Without question, this will have a "greenhouse affect" on the environment, and add to the continuing thaw of the Toro1, Toro 2, Esperanza, Guanaco and Estrecho glaciers.

Installed Gas Depot

Dispersion of dust particulate in the atmosphere

In the study prepared of the Junta de Vigilancia (the organization that watchs over the water) for the observations to the modifications of the EIA the findings indicated the glacier was covered with dust. This could cause a negative impact to the quality of the water that flows from this glacier and others.

Affects of the use of dynamite

There is a big concern about the use of dynamite, and the structural damage caused for a radius of nearly 900 meters of the mine (EIA 6-5). This would include the areas which contain the Toro 1, Toro 2, Experanza, and part of the Guanaco glaciers (EIA fig 6.6).