Mining
Mining not only affects the land surface where mineral are
extracted. It has historically caused more pervasive air and
water pollution, degrading entire watersheds. Even a 2-3 decade
mining boom's use of water, and historically, of massive quantities
of fuelwood, can dramatically change the composition of neighboring
biotic communities for more than a century (Bahr 1991).
Sizeable mines have dramatically changed the ecology of
land around Globe, Bisbee, San Xavier, Nacozari, Casa Grande,
Ajo, San Manual; Mammoth, Cananea, Alamos, La Colorado, Quitovac,
Bagdad, San Felipe (B.C.), and Jerome. For a while it looked
as though copper mining would become less and less lucrative
in the region so that few new mines would ever open. However,
claims have recently begun to be reactivated in the Santa
Ritas, in the Grand Canyon area, and throughout northern Sonora.
The spread of mining in Sonora has become much more likely
in the last 5 years. Under the influence of the World Bank,
Mexico revised its mining law in 1992. The new law allows
the National Institute of Ecology only 90 days to review applications
for claims, does not require public participation, and eliminates
restrictions on the size of explorations. The law even goes
as far as to say that mining "being of public utility,
has preference over all other uses of land". A new foreign
investment law permits 100 percent foreign investment in mines.
Within the three years following the passage of the new mining
law, over 70 foreign companies, mostly U.S. and Canadian established
offices in Hermosilla, Sonora (Border Ecology Project 1995).
As in the past, it is unlikely that Mexican environmental
laws will be strictly enforced. For example, only 0.15% of
the 200 million dollar World Bank loan that catalyzed Mexican
mining reform was budgeted for environmental impact studies,
standards preparation, and standards enforcement training
for staff (McCafferty 1993). Given these policy changes and
new technologies that allow mining of low grade ore but cause
considerable environmental harm, it is very probable that
damage to vegetation, wildlife and local aquifers may be aggravated
by these new mining developments. There are already indications
of this in some of the largest new mines in Sonora (Border
Ecology Project 1995).
Sources
- Bahre, C.J. 1991. A Legacy of Change: Historic human
impact on vegetation of the Arizona borderlands. The
University of Arizona Press.
- Border Ecology Project. 1995. Environmental/social
impacts of multi-national mining investments in Sonora,
Mexico. Border Ecology Project, Bisbee, AZ.
- McCafferty, K. 1993. Report to the border Ecology Project
on the status and administration of environmental protection
within the Mexican mining sector and the impact of World
Bank MSRP Loan #3359. Border Ecology Project, Arizona
--From State of the Sonoran Desert Biome:
Uniqueness, Biodiversity, Threats and the Adequacy of Protection
in the Sonoran Bioregion
by Gary Paul Nabhan and Andrew R. Holdsworth
Sponsored by The Wildlands Project
March, 1998
pp. 43-44
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