Government Calls Grupo Mexico's Toxic Spill Country's Worst Modern Mining Disaster Agencia EFE | |
go to original August 28, 2014 |
Mexican officials say a chemical spill in the northern state of Sonora is the worst mining disaster in recent history. About 40,000 cubic metres of sulfuric acid has leaked into local rivers affecting thousands of residents. The copper mine is facing huge fines and accusations that it tried to hide the accident. Al Jazeera's Rachel Levin reports from Mexico. (Al Jazeera)
A toxic spill at a copper mine operated by a Grupo Mexico unit in the northwestern state of Sonora is the Mexican mining sector's worst environmental disaster in recent history, the government said.
The mine operated by Buenavista del Cobre spilled a total of 40,000 cubic meters of copper sulfate acid into the Tinajas stream in the town of Cananea on Aug. 6.
"This incident at the mine, based on what some specialists in the area have told us, could be considered the worst environmental disaster in the country's mining industry in modern times," Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Juan Jose Guerra Abud said at a press conference on Tuesday.
A report by the National Water Commission, or Conagua, found that the spill was caused by a flawed polyethylene pipe at one of the mine's leachate tanks and a faulty valve at another tank and placed the blame for the disaster squarely on the company.
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