ACTION ALERT
Ecuador Forest Communities Shut Down Mitsubishi Mine
7/12/97
OVERVIEW & SOURCE by EE
Rainforest Action Network reports on a significant threat to the remaining
cloud rainforests of Ecuador. A subsidiary of Mitubishi is involved in
exploratory mining in Junin, an ecologically fragile region in the Andes
that is home to jaguars, howler monkeys, and the endangered spectacled
bear. Please take the time to respond to his action alert in support of
the local peoples whom are resisting the project.
g.b.
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: Ecuador Forest Communities Shut Down Mitsubishi Mine - for Now
Source: Rainforest Action Network ( http://www.ran.org/ran/ )
Status: Distribute freely, but non-commercially & credited
Date: July 1997
This May, rainforest communities in Ecuador's cloud forest stood up to the
largest transnational corporation in the world - and won. Now it is up to
us to make sure that the victory is permanent.
In 1991 Mitsubishipis mining subsidiary, Bishimetals, started conducting
exploratory mining in Junin, an ecologically fragile region in the Andes
that is home to jaguars, howler monkeys, and the endangered spectacled
bear. The mountainous mid-altitude forest, called a cloud forest, also
forms part of the buffer zone protecting the Cotachachi-Cayapas Ecological
Reserve - 500,000-acres of Ecuador's last remaining coastal rainforest.
Local communities made the important decision earlier this year that they
wanted the mining project closed once and for all. This is not surprising
given that Mitsubishi and the Ecuadorian Ministry of Energy and Mines
(MEM) were deliberately withholding information from the public, even
claiming that Bishimetals was exempt from existing environmental laws.
Ecuadorian environmental monitoring groups have documented Bishimetals
knowingly contaminating the Junin River, the only source of fresh water
for the Junin communities.
The project's Environmental Impact Study (EIS) predicts "massive
deforestation that will give way to arid conditions (desertification) and
will cause local climatic changes. " The EIS also concludes that the
Mitsubishi project will have to relocate 100 families from 4 communities
to make way for the open pit mine. The study also warns that up to 5,000
new mine workers may flood into the fragile area. In addition, the
concession holds an estimated 72 million tons of copper, requiring the
construction of open pits, new roads into the rainforest, tailing dams and
a mining plant, together directly affecting over 3,000 acres.
On May 12, the affected communities called on government officials to meet
with them immediately to discuss local concerns about the Mitsubishi mine.
After 72 hours of no response, and with the help of some 100 villagers
including women and children, all goods were inventoried and removed from
the site. Then the community members burned the mine to the ground.
The incident at the mining site demonstrates that Junin communities will
no longer tolerate the situation. During the past six years of exploration
neither Bishimetals nor MEM visited the communities directly affected by
the mining project to inform the locals about the impacts of mining or
consult them on the project.
According to regional conservationist leader Carlos Zorilla, "the case of
Junin is a clear wake-up call to governments all over the world, and to
big mining companies in particular, that local populations must not be
ignored, and that their rights to decide their own future must never be
overlooked."
What Can You Do?
These events in Ecuador demonstrate that Mitsubishi must shift to economic
strategies that respect the environment and local populations. Please
support community demands in Ecuador. Send a Fax directly to Mr. James
Brumm, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Mitsubishi
International Corporation demanding the immediate and permanent withdrawal
of Bishimetals from the area.
Mr. James Brumm
Executive Vice President and General Counsel
Mitsubishi International Corporation
520 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10022
Dear Mr. Brumm:
It has come to my attention that the Bishimetals copper mining project in
Junin, Ecuador has blatantly violated environmental laws and community
demands. Currently, only 12 percent of this mid-altitude rainforest
(called cloud forest) remains from the millions of acres that once spanned
the length of the Ecuadorian Andes.
Unsustainable projects such as the Bishimetals mine contribute
significantly to this destruction. I believe that your companypis
attempts to evade existing environmental laws in Ecuador run counter to
true corporate responsibility. Please demonstrate your commitment to
responsible business practices by urging that Bishimetals withdraw from
the Junin project immediately.
Sincerely,