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Gold Mining in Guatemala
Submitted by Dick Campbell on Thu, 05/29/2008 - 11:03am.
Villagers suspect that ground vibrations from mine blasting and heavy truck traffic are causing the building damage. Goldcorp denies any responsibility.
With our local partner el Comisión Pastoral Paz y Ecologia (the Pastoral Commission for Peace and Ecology), our geotech team put together a plan to investigate the damage to the structures. This involves monitoring the building cracks and ground vibrations, sampling soils, and examining construction methods, surface and ground water, geology, and any mass land movements. The investigation will include three field trips to the area.
Laudeman, Molly Butler (a volunteer), and I just returned from the first trip to look at the structural damage. This trip was intended simply to give us a personal understanding of the scale, extent, and circumstances of the damage, in order to better plan subsequent field work. We also wanted to start monitoring the building cracks before the rainy season got well underway. Our team met with Euginia Castro, manager of monitoring for el Ministerio de Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources). We explained our investigation and promised her a copy of the final report.
We stayed with the Tema family, which includes the current mayor, ex-mayor and school principal, a high school teacher, a radio announcer, and, most importantly, really great cooks! Basic ingredients were black beans, rice, pasta, chicken, pork...which were nothing like anything we've eaten before, with different kinds of salsa, bananas, and tortillas for each meal.
Fortunately, one of our local partners was very patient and imaginative in crossing the language barrier. The fun part was listening to the local Maya language, Sipakapense. It has clicks sort of like Zulu, only softer. And it rained. The first night, we slid off a steep road into a ditch -- fortunately, not off the other side, which was a cliff.
It is premature to make any conclusions on the causes of the building damage. Nevertheless, the large number of damaged buildings -- over 50 -- is remarkable. Now we are home and planning the next detailed part of the geotech investigation.
Rob Robinson, a long-time UUSC supporter and environmental activist, recently organized a special delegation to Guatemala to investigate environmental damage that may be connected to a new gold-mining venture. He filed this report from his home in Colorado.
Villagers suspect that ground vibrations from mine blasting and heavy truck traffic are causing the building damage. Goldcorp denies any responsibility.
With our local partner el Comisión Pastoral Paz y Ecologia (the Pastoral Commission for Peace and Ecology), our geotech team put together a plan to investigate the damage to the structures. This involves monitoring the building cracks and ground vibrations, sampling soils, and examining construction methods, surface and ground water, geology, and any mass land movements. The investigation will include three field trips to the area.
Laudeman, Molly Butler (a volunteer), and I just returned from the first trip to look at the structural damage. This trip was intended simply to give us a personal understanding of the scale, extent, and circumstances of the damage, in order to better plan subsequent field work. We also wanted to start monitoring the building cracks before the rainy season got well underway. Our team met with Euginia Castro, manager of monitoring for el Ministerio de Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources). We explained our investigation and promised her a copy of the final report.
We stayed with the Tema family, which includes the current mayor, ex-mayor and school principal, a high school teacher, a radio announcer, and, most importantly, really great cooks! Basic ingredients were black beans, rice, pasta, chicken, pork...which were nothing like anything we've eaten before, with different kinds of salsa, bananas, and tortillas for each meal.
Fortunately, one of our local partners was very patient and imaginative in crossing the language barrier. The fun part was listening to the local Maya language, Sipakapense. It has clicks sort of like Zulu, only softer. And it rained. The first night, we slid off a steep road into a ditch -- fortunately, not off the other side, which was a cliff.
It is premature to make any conclusions on the causes of the building damage. Nevertheless, the large number of damaged buildings -- over 50 -- is remarkable. Now we are home and planning the next detailed part of the geotech investigation.
