One 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.
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. For more on this story, click here.
In the Romanian mountain village of Rosia Montana, the site of an historic Roman gold mine, Newmont has stepped into a long and bitter battle between the townspeople and a Canadian gold mining company, Gabriel Resources. Gabriel Resources had finally seemed ready to accede to community wishes and abandon a major new mine that would displace nearly 2,000 people and endanger the Danube River. The company had nearly run out of capital and had met many setbacks as broad international opposition to the mine heated up. Unfortunately, Newmont saw an opportunity to gain a stake in the mine at a bargain price and has revitalized the project with an infusion of cash. The community group at the center of the struggle, Alburnus Maior, has waged a remarkably resourceful fight, but it now faces even greater odds as Newmont brings its economic might to bear. For more on this story, click here.
In a major victory for the people of Peruvian mountain towns near Newmont’s 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 local residents blocked access roads to the mine and put pressure on Newmont to cancel expansion plans. Greengrants Grantees, such as Asociación Civil Labor, have worked to increase participation of local people in mine development decisions and environmental enforcement. In an unusual grant for Greengrants, we helped fund completion of a video on the June 2000 mercury spill. The video went on to win several international film festival prizes and build tremendous international awareness. For more on this story, click here.
Please also see our commentary, 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.