Manila Times.net [1]
SINCE July 11, 1977, Semirara Mining Corporation (SMC), the country’s largest coal producer, has been granted the permit, nay, the exclusive right to exploit the 5,500 hectare Semirara Island, one of the nine islands comprising Caluya town in Antique at the northern end of Panay Island. So for the past 34 years, the Consunji-managed company has been mining raw coal out of the island’s mine pits.
For those not in the know, raw coal is composed of 80 percent Clean Coal and the remaining 20 percent Washable Coal. Washable Coal is washed in the Coal Washing Plant to get rid of contaminants, with a 60 percent average recovery. The combination of Washed Coal and Clean Coal becomes the Total Product Coal.
So where do the washed contaminants go, dare you ask?
The residents said coastal resources including mangroves have died or have been contaminated by wastes coming from the coal washing plant of the SMC.
According to them, a wide area of their seas, on which they depend for their livelihood, is slowly being destroyed because hectares of their mangroves and seagrass are slowly dying.
These have been affected, they say, because the coal wastes from SMC’s Coal Washing Plant have contaminated the water and marine resources.
Silt has covered their coastline and mangroves as waste coming from the company’s coal washing plant goes directly to the sea because the siltation pond has not been operational for a long time.
The washing plant removes soil and rock coal before it is utilized or marketed.
Mangrove trees have already died because the silt that has covered the waters has reached more than a foot deep.
”We have sought action from local officials and repeatedly called the attention of the company. But the problem persists,” Barangay Captain Ronald Lavega of Alegria was quoted as saying.
The residents even went as far as asking the guys at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to help them by transferring or repairing the coal washing plant.
They also sought the rehabilitation of affected areas, alternative livelihood for the residents, and indemnification from the company and other measures provided by the law.
The residents claim that around five hectares of mangroves have now been affected. But the company supposedly bulldozed the area with the dead and dying mangroves and planted it with coconut trees.
A sign declaring the area off limits to residents has also been put up.
The Alegria residents alleged that the SMC lads do not want the public to see the dead mangroves, and that they have not been allowed to go near the area because it is already guarded.
The island is host to 21 mangrove species or 60 percent of the total 35 species of mangroves in the country, according to scientists specializing on mangroves.
The mangroves and marine resources are still recovering from a massive oil spill that hit the area in December 2005.
Around 113 hectares of mangrove forests were contaminated after 364,120 liters of bunker fuel were spilled off the coast of Semirara after a power barge of the National Power Corp. ran aground 200 meters from the island.
In fact, a recent survey conducted by the DENR Western Visayas office showed that 895 mangrove trees covering 45.84 hectares have died. The number of dead mangroves in Semirara is higher than those reported on Guimaras Island which was also battered by a massive oil spill.
Scientists also confirmed that some areas on Semirara Island have been contaminated by coal from mining operations and warned of abnormal levels of mercury that could be harmful to the environment and human health.
Mercury levels at the mouth of a creek are above tolerable levels and reached the “moderate toxicity” range.
Mercury, a main component of coal, can harm the nervous system and can permanently damage the brain, kidneys and fetuses.
The scientists said the mercury levels at the mouth of Suja Creek were alarming because these could not be dispersed or degraded and could be accumulated and magnified from ingestion of the basic form of animals and plants up to the food chain until it reaches humans.
Studies on mangrove samples conducted also showed that mangrove trees near the creek were stunted, exhibited abnormal curly leaves, and were likely to be eaten by insects and pests.
These show that the mangroves are undergoing sub-lethal stress even if they are surviving, said an internationally recognized mangrove specialist.
The scientists said the findings were “conclusive” proof of coal contamination on mangroves and soil near the site of the mining operations.
They recommended that more studies and monitoring be conducted to assess the impact of the contamination on shellfish, corals and fish, especially those eaten by residents.
There is even the gnawing fear that the Semirara Island could soon disappear from the face of the Earth. They say the probability is big because of the massive excavation being undertaken by SMC. source
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