Mitsubishi Profits from Indian Woes in Canada
6/27/96
OVERVIEW, SOURCE & COMMENTARY by EE
Rainforest Action Network reports in their July Action Alert on yet another
instance of Mitsubishi Corporation of Japan's unrelenting attacks upon the
environment. This time, Mitsubishi has aggressively pursued mining in the
Cheslatta Carrier Nation indigenous ground in Canada, which will destroy
forests and the land. Please take the time to respond to the appeal for
letters.
g.b.
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*RAINFOREST ACTION NETWORK--JULY ACTION ALERT*
MITSUBISHI PROFITS FROM INDIAN WOES
In mid-May, Mitsubishi broke ground on a project that will destroy
traditional hunting areas of the Cheslatta Carrier Nation in northern
British Columbia. This is business as usual for Mitsubishi, one of the
world's great environmental pariahs. For the Cheslatta people, it is their
latest stand for survival against industry's assaults on their beleaguered
homeland.
For nearly five decades, large-scale industrial projects have laid waste to
Cheslatta Carrier Nation. Commercial logging is ongoing, leaving the
territory scarred with thousands of clear-cuts. In 1952, Alcan Aluminum
moved onto Cheslatta land, evicting the Indians, burning their villages,
and building a hydro-electric reservoir that constantly
overflows-obliterating the natural course of Cheslatta River.
Now Mitsubishi Materials is developing a massive open-pit copper and gold
mine at Huckleberry Mountain, in partnership with a consortium of Japanese
companies, and with B.C.-based Princeton Mining. The Cheslatta Carrier
Indians would trap and hunt game on Huckleberry Mountain's abundant slopes,
gather medicinal herbs from its forests, and fish the nearby waters-but if
Mitsubishi's plans go unchecked, the mountain will be hauled away by the
truck load until nothing is left.
Already, work crews are carving access roads through Cheslatta Nation, and
are gearing up to clear-cut more than 1,420-acres of forest to accommodate
the mine's superstructure. According to official estimates, nearly one
hundred million tons each of potentially toxic tailings and waste rock will
be dumped onto the landscape once the mine is operational.
Tailings ponds, designed to catch liquid mine wastes, could easily
overflow, spilling poisonous sludge into nearby Tahtsa Lake-or worse, heavy
metals will leach into the water table, and acid rock drainage (ARD) will
contaminate the entire Tahtsa network of waterways. Once the metals have
reached the point of saturation, the soil will continue to release toxins
into the water for thousands of years. The U.S. Bureau of Mines estimates
ARD has poisoned over 12,000 miles of North America's waterways, and
Canada's Federal Government says the cost of cleaning up its current
ARD-polluted rivers could exceed $5 billion.
Hungry for foreign investment, the B.C. Government conducted a cursory
environmental assessment, giving a thumbs-up to the mine. The Cheslatta
rejected the assessment as inadequate, and are taking their case to B.C.'s
Supreme Court with help from Sierra Legal Defense Fund.
Meanwhile, the Mitsubishi-led consortium threatened to withdraw funding
from mining operations across Canada if Huckleberry was held up with
federal environmental assessments. Fearing cancellation of the project,
B.C. Premier Glen Clark and Canada's Ambassador to Japan, Donald Campbell,
urged the Government in Ottawa to approve the project right away.
The message is clear. When foreign underwriting is at stake, quick profits
are more important than the environment-or the basic human rights of the
Cheslatta people.
The Cheslatta only want what is theirs-and they want Mitsubishi and company
off of their land. In the words of elder George Louis, keeper of the
traditional territories at Huckleberry Mountain: "These companies will
destroy the land left to us by our ancestors. They will take away our food
and medicine plants. What do I want them to do? Stop. Just stop."
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Send a letter to Prime Minister Jean Chretien, telling him to reassess
approval of the Huckleberry Mine. His address: House of Commons, Ottawa,
Ontario, KIA 0A6. Postage from the U.S. is 52 cents. Here is a sample
letter:
Dear Prime Minister,
I am horrified to learn that your government is party to the destruction of
Cheslatta Carrier Nation in B.C., and fast-tracked the approval of
Mitsubishi-funded Huckleberry copper mine. The mine will lay waste to
Cheslatta traditional hunting grounds, and may potentially render the
entire region uninhabitable. No adequate environmental assessments have
been carried out.
I see that large foreign investment is tempting, but be aware that
Mitsubishi is one of the world's great environmental pariahs.
You must do everything in your power to stop this dangerous project, and to
uphold the basic rights of the Cheslatta people.
For additional information:
Cheslatta Carrier Nation
P.O. Box 909
Burns Lake, B.C. VOJ 1EO
Telephone: (604) 694-3334
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