A common thread connects several Greengrants grantees that have made international headlines recently. Grassroots groups in places as far flung and culturally distinct as Peru, Romania and Indonesia have had major breakthroughs in battles to protect local lands, ecosystems and their communities from gold mining projects in which Denver-based Newmont Mining Corporation has been a key player.
[begin link grantstories.php?news_id=63]Newmont in Indonesia[end link]
In September, New York Times front page coverage detailed contamination of Buyat Bay on the Indonesian Island of Sulawesi and described local illnesses believed to be related to the contamination. In a recent victory for the people of the coastal villages of Buyat Pantai and Ratatotok, the Indonesian government released a long-awaited study that confirmed dangerously high levels of arsenic and mercury in the bay where Newmont has been dumping gold mine tailings since 1996. Several Greengrants grantees have been closely involved in helping community members get the government and Newmont to respond to their concerns. [begin link grantstories.php?news_id=63]For more on this story, click here[end link].
[begin link http://www.greengrants.org/grantstories.php?news_id=48]Newmont in Romania[end link]
In the Romanian mountain village of Rosia Montana, the site of an historic Roman gold mine, Newmont stepped into a long and bitter battle between the townspeople and a Canadian gold mining company that had finally seemed ready to accede to community wishes. The company had nearly run out of capital and had met many setbacks as international opposition to the mine heated up. The mine would displace nearly 2,000 people and endanger major river systems, including the Danube, but seeing an opportunity to gain a stake in the mine at a bargain price, Newmont has revitalized the project with an infusion of cash. The community group, Alburnus Maior, named for the original Roman settlement, has waged a remarkably resourceful fight, but it now faces even greater odds as Newmont brings its economic might to bear. [begin link http://www.greengrants.org/grantstories.php?news_id=48]For more on this story, click here[end link].
[begin link grantstories.php?news_id=64]Newmont in Peru[end link]
In a major victory for the people of Peruvian mountain towns near Newmontís massive Yanacocha mine, Newmont has relented in its quest to expand the mine to Mount Quilish, a mountain that many consider sacred and where expansion would further endanger water quality and public health. Large-scale protests that mobilized 10,000 or more blocked access roads to the mine and put pressure on Newmont to cancel expansion plans. Greengrants Grantees, such as AsociaciÛn Civil Labor, have worked to increase participation of local people in mine development decisions and environmental enforcement, and in an unusual grant for Greengrants, we helped fund completion of a video on the mercury spill that went on to win several international film festival prizes and build tremendous international awareness. [begin link grantstories.php?news_id=64]For more on this story, click here[end link].
Please also see our [begin link pressreleases.php?news_id=18]commentary[end link], prompted by the Buyat Bay disaster, on how we in United States seem much better at exporting environmental destruction than the environmental successes we have enjoyed.