from the manilla standard

Rapu Rapu waters now free of cyanide, but more tests due


Rapu Rapu island’s coastal waters have passed the government’s cyanide standards but more tests have been scheduled to revalidate these findings and until a multiparty group mandated to monitor Lafayette’s project is fully convinced that the company can safely resume operations.

The water samples were taken on Jan. 6 and 19. Additional tests will be conducted any day now. These are aside from the tests to be done on the coastal waters of Sorsogon facing Rapu Rapu island to check their mercury content.

The findings were reported by a joint team of the Environmental Management Bureau and the Mines and Geosciences Bureau at a meeting last Monday attended by Albay Gov. Fernando Gonzales and officials of EMB, MGB, nongovernmental organizations, and Rogelio Corpus, representing the new management of the Rapu-Rapu project.

Corpus told the group the new management of the company is currently focusing on fully meeting all the environmental and safety requirements before resuming operations and is currently doing several things at the same time including desilting ponds and creeks; building wetlands; and expanding the events pond and tailings dam.

The new management, headed by Carlos Dominguez — the father of the Bantay Dagat program, which he pushed when he was the agriculture secretary under the Aquino administration — is also doing a technical audit to find out why the mine spills happened last year and what must be done to make sure they do not happen again, Corpus said.

The water tests are part of the new management’s policy of transparency and fully cooperating with the host communities.

Of particular concern, however, is the mercury content of Sorsogon waters. Lafayette has been saying it does not use mercury and could not have been the source of the chemical that had been blamed for fishkills in the area.

Dominguez met last week with various officials of Albay and Sorsogon, the Church and NGOs to gain a first-hand appreciation of the communities’ concerns and assure them that the company will not resume work unless all environmental and safety measures are in place.

Meanwhile, Lafayette issued the following statement regarding a dead sea cow (dugong) that was brought to Rapu Rapu island the other day:

1. Initial reports showed the dugong was brought by fishermen to the island. There were also reports that the fishermen themselves caught it.

2. It was unlikely that it was caught off Rapu Rapu because the island is not known to have dugongs. Various studies would bear this out.

3. The mine spill in Rapu Rapu last October could not have been the cause of the dugong’s death — assuming without granting the dugong lived around the island — because:

a. If that were the case, smaller fish would have died too.

b. A recent test of samples taken on Jan. 6 and 19 showed that Rapu Rapu waters have passed the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ cyanide standards.

The company’s new management has been cooperating fully with all tests being conducted by legally mandated parties and will continue to do so in the case of the dugong issue.

“We are closely monitoring the issue and look forward to the release of the findings by competent third parties to settle it once and for all. We ask everyone not to speculate until then since it would be counterproductive and could put blame on the wrong parties.�