Environmental Investigation Missions - The Philippine Experience

1. Sharing the Philippine experience
in conducting Environmental
Investigation Mission
International People’s Conference
on Mining 2015: Workshop No. 5-Establishing
Community-Based Scientific tools to Investigate
Corporate Mining Accountability
The Hive Hotel
July 30, 2015

2. What is an Environmental
Investigation Mission?
• Itera&ve,
par&cipatory
and
scien&fic
process
of
inves&ga&on,
engaging
a
mul$-­‐disciplinary
team
to
integrate
the
knowledge
of
the
local
communi&es
with
the
quan&fying
exper&se
of
the
scien&sts
and
technologists
• Covers
biophysical,
social,
poli&cal,
and
economic
impact
of
the
project
to
the
people

3. Consultation
with
the
people’s
organizations/
communities
Data
collation
and
desk
research
Scoping
activity
EIM
Proper
Report
back
to
the
community
Dialogue
with
the
local
and
national
government
/
regulatory
government
agencies
EIM Methodology

4. A. Scientific
Parameters
For
water
quality
Physical
Parameters
Chemical
Parameters
Biological
Parameters
• Temperature
• Color/Taste/Odor
• Turbidity
• Suspended
solids
• Water
velocity
• pH
• Conduc&vity
• Biological
oxygen
demand/
Dissolved
oxygen
• Trace/Toxic
metals
• Bioassessment
• Flora
and
Faunal
Assessment

5. A.
Biological,
Physico-­‐Chemical
Parameters
For
soil
quality
Chemical
Parameters
Biological
Parameters
• pH
• Heavy
metal
analysis
• Soil
produc&vity
(N,
P,
K)
Flora
and
Faunal
Assessment

6. B.
Social
and
Economic
Parameters
•
Actual
Impact
•
Perception
of
impact
•
Health
condition
•
Impact
on
livelihood
C.
Legal
Parameters
• Land
use
and
zoning
• Protected
areas/
reserves
• Endangered
species
• Public
par&cipa&on
• Social
groups
affected
by
development

7. EIM in various mining areas
Ci&Nickel
Mining
in
Española,
Palawan
• mining
stockpiles
and
the
faulty
silta&on
dam
system
are
the
causes
of
polluted
water
of
the
river
system
• Presence
of
nickel
250
&mes
greater
than
the
allowable
standard
is
affec&ng
the
palay
produc&on
• Cases
of
respiratory
and
skin
diseases
in
the
community

8. Philex
tailings
dam
breach
-­‐ 20
million
tons
of
mine
tailings
released
from
the
storage
facility
rendering
an
important
river
system
biologically
dead
-­‐ Resulted
to
copper
contamina&on
4.5
&mes
higher
than
the
maximum
tolerable
level
in
soil

9. Oceana
Gold
Mining
in
Nueva
Viscaya
-­‐
Copper
concentra&on
has
exceeded
the
threhold
level
by
7.4
&mes
in
the
river
system

10. Value of EIM
• Counterchecks the government regulation
and the compliance of the corporation to
the environmental laws and policies
• Serves as a tool in mobilizing affected
commuties to act in demanding
accountability to the mining corporation;
• Use for lobbying at the local and national
government entities and regulatory
agencies

11. Gaps, Limitations and challenges
in having EIM
• Question of accuracy and credibility
• Absence of baseline data
• Lack of supporting documents such as EIS
• Limited analysis conducted due to budget
constraint
• EIM results as substantial evidence to
pursue a case against mining company

12. Man can find meaning in life. Short and perilous
as it is, only through devoting himself to society.
–Albert Einstein