Western Shoshone Defense Project - Archives

From: "RightsAction" info@rightsaction.org
August 22, 2005

GUATEMALA: World Bank slammed over support for Canadian mining company in Guatemala

For over 3 years, RightsAction has funded and worked with rural communities in Honduras and Guatemala being negatively impacted by Glamis Gold mining operations in Honduras and Guatemala. Their operations in Honduras continue, unabated, and harmfully.

In Guatemala, there has been more coordinated and widespread opposition, even though Glamis Gold has been strongly supported by the Canadian and Guatemalan governments and the World Bank. Below, you will find a Financial Times article concerning the World Bank investment in this project.

ADMISSIONS: Please read the short Financial Times article and consider that:

• this report was done by the WB itself;
• the WB funded company - Glamis Gold - did NOT properly consult with the mining affected Mayan communities;
• the WB continues to invest in "extractive industries", even as it was recommended not to;
• there is 98% local opposition to the Glamis Gold project, even as Glamis Gold insists it has "broad support";
• there was no proper consultation with the mining-affected communities, as required by law;
• there as already been repression associated with the mining project, even as the actual mining has not begun;

Please write the World Bank and Canadian government offices (see below) and demand an immediate suspension of all mining activities - as demanded by the affected communities (that RightsAction supports) and a wide range of NGOs and Church groups in Guatemala and Canada.

WORLD BANK ATTACKED OVER GOLD MINE

Financial Times
by Christopher Swann in Washington
8/21/05

The confidential draft report, obtained by the FT, charges that the bank failed adequately to consult the local community or properly evaluate the environmental and humanitarian impact of the mine. Although only in draft form, the report is likely to be an embarrassment to the bank.

Glamis Gold, the Canadian company constructing the mine, has said the venture has broad support from the indigenous Mayan Indians. But the project has been plagued by controversy.

In January a 40-day protest by locals ended in bloodshed when security forces clashed with protesters, resulting in one death. On March 13 a villager was shot dead by an off-duty employee of Grupo Golan, a company providing security for Glamis.

And in June a referendum in a nearby municipality showed 98 per cent opposed moving forward with the project.

The draft report charges that the IFC -- the private finance arm of the World Bank -- failed to give sufficient time "to allow a reasonably informed consultation". "The IFC should have considered more systematically the potential risk on human rights at the project level; should have taken appropriate measures to mitigate these risks."

Kevin McArthur, president and chief executive of Glamis Gold, said: "We have a signed document from the indigenous leadership early on in the project that they wanted to go ahead. We are convinced this will be good for the local community."

PLEASE WRITE TO:

Embassy of Guatemala in Canada
Ambassador Carlos Jiménez
130 Albert Street, Suite 1010, Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5G4,
F: 613 233 0135
E: embassy1@embaguate-canada.ca, embguate@ottawa.net,

Glamis Gold Mining company
310-5190 Neil Road
Reno, NV, USA 89502
F: 775 827 5044
E: info@glamis.com
Michael A. Steeves, MichaelS@glamis.com

CANADIAN GOVERNMENT:

• James Lambert, Canadian ambassador in Guatemala,
  gtmla@international.gc.ca
  
• Ginette Martin, Advisor, Canadian embassy in Guatemala,
  ginette.Martin@international.gc.ca
  
• Monica Izaguirre, Monica.Izaguirre@international.gc.ca

Rights Action requests your tax-deductible donations for mining-affected communities in Honduras and Guatemala that are defending their community development and environment interests. [see below]

If you want on-off this elist: info@rightsaction.org. Please re-distribute far and wide.

Rights Action is a development, enviro and human rights organization, with its main office in Guatemala. We: channel your tax-deductible donations to over 50 community development, environment and human rights organizations in Guatemala, Chiapas, Honduras, Haiti; provide accompaniment for 'at risk' community development leaders; carry out education & activist work with partner groups about global human rights, environment and development issues. www.rightsaction.org, info@rightsaction.org.

Make check payable to "Rights Action" and mail to:
* United States: Box 50887, Washington DC, 20091-0887.
* Canada: 509 St. Clair Ave W, box73527, Toronto ON, M6C-1C0.

On-line donations: USA and Canada: www.rightsaction.org
Wire funds to Rights Action: contact info@rightsaction.org , 416-654-2074.

SURVIVAL INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE

SUPERMODEL LILY COLE REFUSES TO WORK
FOR DE BEERS AGAIN

British supermodel Lily Cole, the current face of De Beers, has stated that she is refusing to work for De Beers again, over claims that Bushmen were evicted to make way for future diamond mining in Botswana. Her statement follows lobbying from human rights organisation Survival International. Lily tells Survival, "I was unaware of these matters when I was booked for the shoot."

Stephen Corry, Director of Survival International said: "I am delighted that Lily has heeded our advice and understands the human suffering that diamonds are causing the Bushmen. I now urge other models not to work for De Beers. De Beers must realise that the only way out of this is for the Bushmen to be given back their land."

Lily Cole is not the first model to quit working for De Beers. Supermodel Iman famously quit as the face of De Beers after meeting with Survival International. Meanwhile British supermodel Erin O'Connor distanced herself from De Beers stating '"I don't think that doing a job like (being the face of De Beers) would in any way add to my life or make me happy. I would make that stand, and say 'no'."

This is part of Survival International's ongoing campaign against De Beers in support of the Bushmen of the Kalahari over their eviction from their lands to make way for future diamond mining. Since the eviction, the Bushmen have been continuously persecuted. Only last month seven were tortured by wildlife officials for hunting to feed their families.

Last month Survival and pioneering American feminist Gloria Steinem picketed the opening of De Beers's first US store in New York. Survival supporters urged US celebrities Teri Hatcher and Lindsay Lohan not to cross the picket line.

Meanwhile, screen icon Julie Christie has lent her support to the campaign stating: "Boycott De Beers! Or have the destruction of the Bushmen on your conscience."

For more information, and photos of the Survival protests, please contact Miriam Ross at +44 20 7687 8734 or email mr@survival-international.org

Survival International
We help tribal peoples defend their lives, protect their lands and determine their own futures.

6 Charterhouse Buildings
London EC1M 7ET
UK
Tel: 020 7687 8700
Fax: 020 7687 8701
http://www.survival-international.org

From Mining Watch Canada.
July 13, 2005

Action Alert: Parliament Wants The Government Of Canada To Stop Supporting Destructive Mining Projects Overseas!

SUMMARY: Parliament has called on the Government of Canada to take action to end the devastating social and environmental impacts of Canadian mining operations overseas. A recent Parliamentary report calls on the Government to:
(i) stop using taxpayer money to support destructive Canadian mining projects abroad;
(ii) hold Canadian mining companies legally accountable for environmental and human rights violations in other countries, and;
(iii) force the World Bank to respect international human rights standards.

The Government has about 60 days left to respond and it would like nothing more than to sweep the report under the carpet. Action is needed to pressure the Government to adopt Parliament's recommendations and to immediately address ongoing international scandals associated with the Canadian mining industry.

WHAT TO DO?

BACKGROUND: Organizations across Canada and around the world have been working to raise awareness about the devastating social and environmental impacts that are all too often associated with the operations of Canadian mining companies in other countries. Unfortunately, the Government of Canada has consistently refused to take meaningful action to address the growing number of problems associated with Canadian mining companies overseas.

In late June, the Parliament's Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade adopted a report stating that they were "concerned that Canada does not yet have laws to ensure that the activities of Canadian mining companies in developing countries conform to human rights standards, including the rights of workers and of indigenous peoples."

The report argues that "more must be done to ensure that Canadian companies. conduct their activities in a socially and environmentally responsible manner and in conformity with international human rights standards."

Among other things, the report urges the Government of Canada to:

• Condition Canadian support "on companies meeting clearly defined corporate social responsibility and human rights standards."
  
• "Establish clear legal norms in Canada to ensure that Canadian companies and residents are held accountable when there is evidence of environmental and/or human rights violations associated with the activities of Canadian mining companies."
• 
  "Work with like-minded countries to integrate and mainstream international human rights standards in the work of international financial institutions (IFIs) such as the World Bank."

For a complete copy of the report (it is quite short) see:
http://www.parl.gc.ca/committee/CommitteePublication.aspx?COM=8979&Lang= 1&So urceId=122762

The Standing Committee has requested "a comprehensive government response to this Report" and the Government, led by the Department of Foreign Affairs, is currently deciding how to proceed. In the past, the Government has consistently rejected calls for concrete action to deal with the many problems associated with the activities of Canadian mining companies abroad.

The Government has also failed to call on the World Bank to make a clear commitment to abide by international human rights standards. If adopted in full, the report's recommendations would have a lasting effect on Government policy towards Canadian corporations overseas, the World Bank and other international financial institutions.

While the Government needs to take broad action along the lines outlined in the report, the Government also needs to take immediate action to address the many projects that are the source of significant and growing controversy overseas. There are simply too many projects to mention here, but some of the projects that demand immediate attention include the following:

• Vancouver-based Ascendant Copper Corporation is seeking financing to develop a copper mine in one of the world's most diverse and threatened ecosystems, despite vigorous opposition from local elected leaders and residents across Cotacachi County in Northwest Ecuador. The company is trying to raise millions of dollars on the Toronto Stock Exchange in order to move forward with its Junin project, and the Government of Canada has thus failed to call on Ascendant to suspend activities until outstanding issues can be resolved.
  
• Communities in San Marcos, Guatemala, are locked in a struggle with Canada's Glamis Gold Corporation. Glamis's Marlin Mine has been accused of violating indigenous rights and threatening scarce water supplies. Despite these concerns, the Government of Canada has been aggressively promoting the interests of Canadian mining companies in Guatemala. Local communities recently voted to reject mining in the area, but the company has failed to accept and respect the community's wishes.
  
• TVI Pacific is locked in a brutal struggle with communities in Siocon, Mindanao in the Philippines. The above-mentioned Parliamentary Report notes that the "Subcommittee is deeply concerned about the possible impact of the activities of TVI Pacific Inc., a Canadian mining company, on the indigenous rights and the human rights of people in the area." and calls for a government investigation of TVI's activities.

  You can find more on these projects at: www.miningwatch.org; www.foecanada.org; www.decoin.org, www.rightsaction.org, www.dcmiphil.org (or do a simple google search).

CONTACT THE FOLLOWING MINISTERS WITH YOUR CONCERNS:

The Honourable Pierre Pettigrew
Minister of Foreign Affairs Canada
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1A 0G2
Tel: (613) 995-1851
Fax: (613) 996-3443 Eml: pierre-pettigrew@dfait-maeci.gc.ca
or Pettigrew.p@parl.gc.ca

The Honourable R. John Efford
Minister of Natural Resources Canada
Natural Resources Canada
580 Booth Street, 21st Floor, Rm: C7-1
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1A 0E4
Tel: (613) 996-2007
Fax: (613) 996-4516
Eml: john.efford@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca
or efford.j@parl.gc.ca

The Honourable David L Emerson
Minister, Industry Canada
235 Queen Street
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1A 0H5
Tel: (613) 995-9001
Fax: (613) 992-0302
Eml: minister.industry@ic.gc.ca
or emerson.d@parl.gc.ca

WE CAN BE REACHED AT:

Graham Saul
International Program Director
Friends of the Earth Canada/
Les Ami(e)s de la Terre
260 St. Patrick St., Suite 300
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1N 5K5
Tel: 1-613-241-0085, ext. 22
Fax: 1-613-241-7998
Eml: gsaul@foecanada.org
www.foecanada.org

Catherine Coumans
Research Coordinator
MiningWatch Canada
Suite 508, City Centre Building
250 City Centre Avenue
Ottawa, Ontario K1R 6K7 Canada
Tel. (613) 569-3439
Fax: (613) 569-5138
Eml: catherine@miningwatch.ca
www.miningwatch.ca

SAMPLE LETTER TO MINISTER:

To: [NAME HERE]

I am writing to urge you to adopt the recommendations contained in the Fourteenth Report of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade and to take action around a number of urgent cases involving Canadian mining companies operating abroad. I am deeply concerned about the social and environmental impacts of Canadian mining companies overseas and I find it disturbing that the Government of Canada has thus far failed to take meaningful action to address this obvious problem. The above-mentioned Parliamentary report provides you with an opportunity to demonstrate leadership on this important issue.

In late June, the Parliament's Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade adopted a report stating that they were "concerned that Canada does not yet have laws to ensure that the activities of Canadian mining companies in developing countries conform to human rights standards, including the rights of workers and of indigenous peoples." The report argues that "more must be done to ensure that Canadian companies. conduct their activities in a socially and environmentally responsible manner and in conformity with international human rights standards." Among other things, the report urges the Government of Canada to:

• Condition Canadian support "on companies meeting clearly defined corporate social responsibility and human rights standards..."
  
• "Establish clear legal norms in Canada to ensure that Canadian companies and residents are held accountable when there is evidence of environmental and/or human rights violations associated with the activities of Canadian mining companies." And;
  
• "Work with like-minded countries to integrate and mainstream international human rights standards in the work of international financial institutions (IFIs) such as the World Bank."

The Standing Committee has requested "a comprehensive government response to this Report" and it is my understanding that the Government is currently deciding how to proceed. I am writing to express my support for the recommendations outlined in the report. I want to urge you to ensure that these recommendations are adopted by the Government of Canada and I would like you to please provide me with information outlining the steps that you are personally taking to ensure that this occurs.

The committee's report also calls on the Government to "conduct an investigation of any impact of TVI Pacific's Canatuan mining project in Mindanao on the indigenous rights and human rights of people in the area and on the environment, and table a report on this investigation in Parliament within 90 days." I support this recommendation and I believe that the Government should also call on TVI to suspend all activities pending the outcome of this investigation. I also strongly believe that the Government should launch investigations into the activities of Ascendant Copper Corporation's Junin project in Ecuador and Glamis Gold's Marlin Mine in Guatemala, and call on these companies to suspend their activities pending the outcome of the Government's investigation. I would like you to please provide me with information on what your office is doing to ensure that the problems associated with these projects are addressed.

Finally, I am appalled that the World Bank and other international financial institutions have not yet made clear and binding commitments to uphold international human rights standards. Please provide me with information on what you are doing to ensure that these institutions are no longer able to ignore international law.

As you know, more money is raised for the global mining industry in Canada than in any other country in the world and more than half of the world's mining companies list their shares on Canadian capital markets. Canada has a responsibility to develop mechanisms to hold these companies accountable for their actions overseas. This is a responsibility that the Government of Canada has failed to embrace. I hope that the above-mentioned Parliamentary report will prove to be an opportunity to address this glaring and damaging failure.

Thank you,

June 3, 2005

FYI -- Good editorial on the gold industry's pull in D.C.

Editorial: The Price of Gold

If you could improve the lives of hundreds of millions of the world's most destitute people with a program that might - just might - temporarily reduce the profits of the global gold industry, most people would probably think it is worth doing. Even most members of Congress. That's why it has been so disturbing to see gold producers strong-arm Congress and the White House into blocking just such a desperately needed measure.

Poor countries need debt relief. Some African governments spend three times as much on debt service as they do on health care. They could be using the money to train nurses, eliminate school fees and fight AIDS. More debt relief is needed, and a deal needs to be sealed at the summit of the Group of 8 industrial countries in July.

A real solution has been postponed because the wealthy countries can't agree on how to finance it. But Britain offered a good answer: have the International Monetary Fund sell about $12 billion of its gold reserves, which have a total market value of about $43 billion. That would cover debt owed the fund, which accounts for 30 percent of the interest payments owed over the next 5 to 10 years by the affected countries. The fund could sell more gold to cancel debts owed the World Bank and other banks.

This is the simplest and least painful solution. It would not require new contributions or hurt lending to middle-income countries, and it is the only one that has any hope of support from rich countries. But the United States has veto power over gold decisions in the monetary fund, so this idea needs approval from Congress - and the mining industry has blocked a vote. In January, a letter opposing the sale of I.M.F. gold was signed by 12 senators from Western states, including the Democratic leader, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada. The letter argued that the sale could drive down the price of gold. A similar letter was signed in March by 30 members of the House.

Because few lawmakers spend much time thinking about the I.M.F., the letters -sparked by lobbyists from the National Mining Association and gold mining companies - persuaded the leadership that the gold proposal would not pass, even before it came up for discussion. The Bush administration, apparently unwilling to take on a Congressional fight, began in April to oppose gold sales outright.

The gold industry is worried about a pricing hit that probably would never happen. In March, the monetary fund concluded that gold prices would not be affected, as it could sell the gold over several years while at the same time asking central banks to sell less. Gold-producing poor countries endorse I.M.F. gold sales. The president of the World Gold Council said recently that he would give them conditional support. Congress needs to debate the issue, not allow a special interest to deny help to hundreds of millions of poor people. President Bush should spend the political capital to push this good idea through the Republican-controlled Congress before the July summit.

April 25, 2005
For more information:

Julie Ann Fishel,
Western Shoshone Defense Project
775-468-0230 or 775-397-1371

Western Shoshone to Question Placer Dome Mining at Annual Shareholder Meeting

Crescent Valley, NV (Newe Sogobia) (April 25, 2005). A delegation of Western Shoshone will address the CEO and Board of Placer Dome, Inc. during Wednesday's Annual General Meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia.

During the Meeting, Placer Dome - the world's fifth largest gold company and majority owner of the controversial Cortez Gold Mine in Crescent Valley, Nevada will respond to strong requests by the Western Shoshone. Placer Dome has been pushing hard for expansion of mining in a very important area to the Western Shoshone for cultural and spiritual reasons. The area - which includes Mt. Tenabo and Horse Canyon - is home to local Western Shoshone creation stories and contains burial sites, ceremonial areas and food and medicinal plants. Western Shoshone have protested mining exploration in the area since it was initially proposed. The area is also where, in 2002-2003, the U.S. government conducted armed seizures of horses and cattle belonging to Western Shoshone Grandmothers Mary and Carrie Dann. Just months after the last seizure, the gold company announced the "discovery" of significant gold deposits. The Western Shoshone will address the shareholders meeting and a post-meeting with Corporate Executives to ask Placer Dome to stop the drill rigs and other heavy equipment until they have received free, prior and informed consent from Western Shoshone. The delegates are also asking Placer Dome to change the way they have been doing business by respecting Western Shoshone human rights, including compensation issues. Even with its existing mine, in the time since Placer Dome started operating in Western Shoshone territory, the Shoshone have received no benefits and have had to stand by and watch the destruction of the land, water and air.

Western Shoshone leaders, Hugh Stevens and Darla Lozano will address the Shareholder Meeting. The Western Shoshone delegation will also be meeting with Placer Dome Corporate leadership following the Meeting to address these concerns in more depth.

Carrie Dann, Western Shoshone grandmother who was scheduled to address the Shareholders due to the death of her sister, Mary will be unable to travel this week, stated from her home in Crescent Valley: "U.S. law tells us we don't have a right to say no to mining activities - that violates our human rights - culturally and spiritually. If Placer Dome allows its company to merely go by those discriminatory laws, then they are a party to those violations as well. Not only has Placer Dome ignored our protests to stop exploration and mining at Horse Canyon and Mt. Tenabo, but they have affirmatively sought to take the area even out of minimal environmental and cultural protection by privatizing the

May 17, 2005

Good News.

Picuris Pueblo reclaims clay site

Capping years of effort, Picuris Pueblo has regained the traditional area where its people gather clay for making pottery.

The pueblo announced Monday that it has acquired the mica mine on U.S. Hill from Oglebay Norton Specialty Minerals Inc., an Ohio mining company. The Pueblo people had gathered micaceous clay at the site for centuries before mining operations began.

Details of the acquisition weren't released in a joint news release from the pueblo and the company. Oglebay Norton, which has other mineral interests around the country and operates a shipping line in the Great Lakes, filed for federal bankruptcy protection last year.

In the news release, Picuris Gov. Richard Mermejo said the recovery of the clay-gathering site was of tremendous cultural significance to the pueblo and its remaining potters.

The pueblo faces substantial work at the mine site, north of the pueblo about 15 miles south of Taos, before it can regain access to the clay site.

"We are eager to begin the work that must be done to heal the land," Mermejo said.

Mermejo said the pueblo's main priority is to restore the land as closely as possible to its natural condition and regain access to the clay deposit.

Michael Lundin, president of Oglebay Norton, said the company has substantially completed the sale of its mica assets and intends to concentrate on other minerals and its marine-services business.

"We are pleased that this transaction facilitated not only Oglebay's strategic objective, but at the same time provided an opportunity for Picuris Pueblo to acquire this culturally significant property," Lundin said.

The U.S. Hill mine property consists of approximately 195 acres, with about 342 acres of unpatented mining claims on U.S. Forest Service land surrounding patented lands.

Early last year, the pueblo filed a lawsuit against Oglebay Norton in state District Court in Taos seeking a court order to eject the company from the site and unspecified damages from the company and its predecessor for damaging the site.

Richard Hughes, a Santa Fe lawyer representing the pueblo, said last year that the federal government never took any action to extinguish the pueblo's right to use the land. The government issued a patent to an earlier mining company to use the land in the 1980s, he said.

Under the pueblo's acquisition of the site from Oglebay Norton, it also agreed to drop its legal claims, the news release stated. The state mining-and-reclamation permit held by the company for the site has been transferred to the pueblo, which is now responsible for reclamation.

Attempts to reach pueblo officials, Hughes or company officials for comment after business hours on Monday were unsuccessful.

May 2 5, 2005

A poison wind: Toxic mercury blows into Utah from Nevada

By Patty Henetz
The Salt Lake Tribune
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_2700092

Poison is blowing eastward from Nevada, and Utah is in its path.

Mercury is floating out of smokestacks into the atmosphere from a cluster of gold mines near Elko that account for as much as 11 percent of the nation's total mercury emissions. Utah's mountain high country, its urban heart and the irreplaceable ecology of the Great Salt Lake are directly downwind.

Named for the Roman god of commerce, profit and thievery whose winged shoes sped him as the gods' messenger, mercury is a heavy metal that can foul the environment. Mercury exposure has been linked to neurological and kidney disease, loss of motor control and death. Pregnant women and young children especially are at risk.

Federal researchers estimate that more than 300,000 newborns each year may have an increased risk of learning disabilities associated with prenatal exposure to organic mercury that their mothers ingest from fish and shellfish. University of Texas epidemiologists have linked increasing incidences of childhood autism to mercury.

It is considered such a threat to human health that Congress ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to make rules to cut mercury coming from coal-fired power plants, the main source of global atmospheric mercury. Yet the Nevada mines are under no such state or federal regulations.

Rather, the four largest mining companies have entered into a voluntary mercury emissions reduction program crafted with EPA's Region 9 office in San Francisco. The program's results have been mixed.

"This voluntary program has resulted in some emissions reductions. But they could stop complying anytime they want," said Idaho Conservation League spokesman Justin Hayes. "Mercury is such a powerful neurotoxin, you want this stuff controlled to the maximal point possible, not to the levels the gold mining industry wants to."

The Conservation League is ready to sue the EPA to force it to impose emissions reductions rules on the Nevada mines. In an Oct. 21 letter to then-EPA Administrator and former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt, the Conversation League charged that prevailing winds and atmospheric circulation patterns send huge plumes of mercury into southern Idaho, possibly contributing to mercury-related fish consumption advisories.

And what goes for Idaho ought to go for Utah, Hayes said. "It's probably time for the state of Utah to pull its head out of the sand," he said. "There's no safe level of mercury in your environment."

Up the food chain: In that case, says Salt Lake City environmental activist Ivan Weber, Utah again is a guinea pig much as it was during Cold War atomic tests in Nevada that sent fallout eastward.

"Salt Lake City's burgeoning, youth-weighted population may be the real canary in this mine, along with the birds of the Great Salt Lake extended migratory ecosystem," he said.

Glenn Miller, a professor of natural resources and environmental science at the University of Nevada, Reno, is a Great Basin Mine Watch board member and an expert on Nevada gold mines and mercury. In a March report prepared for the EPA that uses 1998 emissions reports and extrapolates backward to 1985, Miller estimated the 18 Nevada gold mines released between 70 and 200 tons of mercury.

That's probably an underestimate, he said, because several mines aren't reporting atmospheric emissions. One reported producing about 120 tons of byproduct mercury but zero emissions - which Miller says is a scientific impossibility.

Scientists know that mercury can travel great distances. It's understood that methylmercury, the element's organic form, can get into the bodies of humans who eat fish and shellfish. Less clear is how else mercury might be harming people, animals or the environment.

Research continues into whether mercury from amalgam dental fillings contribute to Alzheimer's disease. Methylmercury from gold mining is being blamed on the re-emergence in the Amazon of Minimata disease - named for a Japanese fishing village where 1,500 people were poisoned in the 1950s.

Consumption of predatory fish high on the food chain such as swordfish and shark is of particular concern in south and southeast Asia, Africa and China. At the same time, California officials have issued warnings about eating bass, catfish, bluegill, hitch, carp, trout and crayfish from Sierra Range streams fouled by gold mining.

Merthymercury contamination "is potentially a major impact on the recreational industry in Utah," Miller said. "You're going to be wondering if you should eat the fish you catch."

"Urgent science": Federal scientists studying the Great Salt Lake have reported finding some of the highest levels of mercury anywhere in the nation. The lake is in a basin surrounded by mountains that act as a collector for passing storms. Storms from the west generally pass over northern Nevada, part of the larger area known as the Great Basin. The water that lands in the basin is in turn evaporated and redeposited nearby.

"A mercury cycle looks a great deal like the water cycle," said Weber, a sustainable energy consultant. "Some mercury falls out near the source, but not all of it. There's a distance of travel function we need to understand. Those Nevada [mines] have suddenly made this urgent science."

Miller said that because mercury is drifting around the globe, including huge amounts from China's coal-fired plants, it would be difficult to determine exactly where the mercury in the Great Salt Lake, or anywhere else, came from.

It's unlikely the mining industry is responsible for all the mercury in Utah and Idaho, "but it is fair to say there is a significant fraction," he said. Still, "I would be surprised if in the Uintas you didn't have some pretty significant mercury loads."

If so, the state Department of Environmental Quality hasn't identified them.Utah has no mercury-related fish consumption advisories. But that's because the state hasn't tested the fish to see whether mercury is accumulating in their flesh.

Utah Division of Water Quality Director Walt Baker says the state is still developing testing protocols for fish tissue and other freshwater aquatic life, though a "limited number" of tissue samples have been sent to EPA. One sample exceeded the level of what they would consider acceptable, Baker said.

Miller believes Utah environmental regulators ought to be talking seriously with their Nevada counterparts.

"In Nevada, the only place mercury falls is in Elko. But who's due east of all the mercury releases? Salt Lake City," said Miller. "I would not live downwind of one of those places. Utah needs to tell Nevada to get the hell in gear. We need to go after the industry with both fists." The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality estimates the northern

Nevada mines may be responsible for up to 11 percent of all the nation's mercury stack emissions. The EPA estimates the mines are responsible for 9.57 percent of the releases.

The EPA has compiled its annual compendium of hazardous air emissions and their point sources, the Toxic Release Inventory, since 1987, but it wasn't until 1998 that mine emissions were included. Suddenly, Nevada zoomed to the top of the mercury emissions list. The culprit? Relatively new cyanide and thermal processing techniques used by a dozen or so gold mines, most of them in the state's remote northeast.

"It's a huge issue. It caught everybody by surprise," said Dave Jones, EPA Region 9 associate director of waste management.

A voluntary approach: Because there were no specific rules affecting mercury emissions from mines, Jones said, EPA officials had to decide whether to proceed with a regulatory process known as Maximum Achievable Control Technology, or MACT.

But the process is cumbersome and has led to many lawsuits in other instances, Jones said. So San Francisco-based Region 9 in 2001 decided to try a voluntary approach: They asked cooperating mines either to put in MACT-like controls or reduce their mercury emissions by 50 percent by July of this year.

The first mine to participate was the Barrick Goldstrike, the largest single gold mining complex in the nation. Barrick then helped convince the Jerritt Canyon, Newmont and Cortez mines to come along, said Rich Haddock, Barrick's vice president for environmental issues.

On paper, the mines have made progress. The numbers, however, are inconsistent and confusing, because some are actual emissions as reported to the EPA while others are calculated to show what the emissions could be if the processors were running nonstop, Haddock said.

In 2001, the five mines collectively emitted 11,793 pounds of mercury, or roughly 90 percent of all reported Nevada atmospheric releases. Jerritt Canyon alone reported to the EPA a release of 7,990 pounds.

By 2003, their totals dropped to 4,446 pounds, largely due to reported reductions from the Jerritt mine, whose emissions fell to 793 pounds.

By comparison, the average coal-fired plant emits 120 pounds of mercury. Older plants in the eastern U.S. report 250 to 400 pounds of mercury emissions.

The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection controls the mines' permits, which are up for renewal this year. The state could include some of the voluntary emissions control measures as conditions of the permits. But those in the agency who spoke with The Tribune were unfamiliar with some of the basic issues.

Colleen Cripps, chief of Nevada's air quality planning, didn't know how the voluntary program started and said she didn't know what emissions controls were in place. Mike Elges, Nevada's chief of air pollution control, didn't know whether the state would take a regulatory stance to further reduce the emissions. Elges said the state was assessing the program's results, but said he wasn't convinced that the mercury emitted from the mine's processors was the same type of mercury that comes out of coal-fired plants.

Miller scoffed at that notion.

"There is no scientific basis for suggesting mercury coming off a thermal process like a [gold ore] roaster or a power plant is going to be significantly different," he said. "It's all going to be elemental mercury, and that's the form that moves most quickly in the environment."

Mercury facts

1. Mercury occurs naturally in the environment but also has been introduced through human activity, particularly from coal-fired power plants and mining.
   
2. It is toxic even in small amounts. While most heavy metals are toxic in the parts per billion, mercury is toxic in the parts per trillion.
   
3. Methylmercury, the organic and most toxic form of the element, collects in water, plants and animals. Predatory fish such as tuna, salmon, swordfish and trout have been found to have high levels of mercury in their tissues. Humans who eat mercury-laden fish, in turn, are tainted.

April 25, 2005
For more information:

Julie Ann Fishel,
Western Shoshone Defense Project
775-468-0230 or 775-397-1371

Western Shoshone Travel to Newmont Mining Shareholder Meeting to Address Concerns

Western Shoshone will address the CEO and Board of Newmont Mining Corporation during Wednesday's Annual General Meeting in Denver Colorado. During the Meeting, Newmont Mining Corporation - the world's largest gold company will respond to concerns by the Western Shoshone. Newmont currently operates gold mines across Western Shoshone territory in Nevada - equating to nearly 40% of its equity base. Western Shoshone are asking Newmont to change the way they have been doing business by respecting Western Shoshone human rights and by supporting their struggle to protect their homeland and the survival of their people. In the nearly 50 years that Newmont has operated on Western Shoshone lands, the Shoshone have seen no benefits come to their people and have had to stand by and watch the destruction of cultural and spiritual areas, hunting grounds and water. The Western Shoshone delegation will be meeting with Newmont Corporate leadership on Tuesday, prior to the Meeting to address these concerns in more depth.

Kristi Begay, Western Shoshone leader who will address the Newmont Meeting: "Our land is recognized by the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley and yet the government and the companies have been acting as if our people mean nothing - we are here to say that the Western Shoshone do mean something. We want to know if our poverty is somehow connected to Newmont's wealth. Also, is the fact that the U.S. government denying our rights to our homeland somehow connected to Newmont's interests in appropriating our lands as private property? We want Newmont and the other gold companies to do their business in a better way and not to try to get rid of us - which is what it looks like they've been trying to do for all these years. We've been here forever, our people will always be here and the companies know it."

Carrie Dann, Western Shoshone grandmother who was scheduled to attend the pre-meeting with Corporate Executives but due to the death of her sister, Mary will be unable to travel this week, stated from her home in Crescent Valley: "U.S. law tells us we don't have a right to say no to mining activities - that violates our human rights - culturally and spiritually. If Newmont allows its company to merely go by those discriminatory laws, then they are a party to those violations as well. We want Newmont to understand this and this is the first time that they are meeting with our people to begin talking about how to address these concerns. This is what me and my sister Mary always wanted, to sit across the table on an equal basis, eye to eye, and talk. Hopefully the Company will listen." She added that in her absence, "I am proud that we have Western Shoshone of the younger generations to go and speak about these issues."

Joseph Moon, Western Shoshone youth attending the meetings stated: "As a young native person I want to know more about these mining companies who are impacting our land and water. I want them to know that we, as young people, care about the survival of our people as Western Shoshone and we are part of this struggle. With elders passing on that just helps our bond get stronger and we realize more and more that we need to carry that torch as our elders did before us."

The Dine Natural Resources Protection Act of 2005 was passed by the Navajo Nation Council yesturday, April 19, 2005. The legislation passed with a vote of 63-19. Below is a story that appeared in Farmington's Daily Times.

Navajo council outlaws uranium mining

By Ryan Hall/The Daily Times
April 20, 2005
http://www.daily-times.com/artman/publish/article_18006.shtml

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — Uranium mining and processing will be outlawed on the Navajo reservation if President Joseph Shirley signs a bill passed Tuesday morning by the Navajo Nation Council.

The Dine´ Natural Resources Protection Act of 2005, which as amended prior to the vote bans uranium mining and processing anywhere in the Navajo Nation, passed by a vote of 63-19.

Shiprock delegates Richard Begaye and Wallace Charley voted no on the measure.

Shiprock delegate Pete Atcitty, Hogback delegate Ervin Keeswood Sr. and Upper Fruitland delegate Lorenzo Bates voted yes.

The vote came after a heated debate focused on several amendments. One change that would have deleted a 25-year moratorium on uranium processing was defeated, while another passed that deleted the moratorium but called for processing to be unconditionally banned. The approved amendment also struck language that would have allowed individuals wishing to mine or process uranium to seek approval from several committees of the Navajo Council.

The final language read: “No person shall engage in uranium mining and processing on any sites within Navajo Indian Country.”

“It’s very simple, uranium kills,” said delegate Mark Maryboy of Mexican Water/Aneth/Red Mesa during the debate.

Legislative counsel Raymond Atcitty and several delegates pointed out that while the legislation is needed, it will likely be challenged in court and could go as far as the U.S. Supreme Court.

“I’m afraid this may be challenged in court when we do pass this legislation,” said delegate Jerry Bodie of Sanostee.

Delegate Raymond Atcitty agreed, saying during the debate over amendments that “no matter what we do, Navajo Nation will probably be sued.”

Despite the threat of a lawsuit, members of Eastern Navajo Dine´ Against Uranium Mining (ENDAUM) and the grassroots organization Dine´ Bidzii celebrated outside council chambers following the passage of the resources protection act.

“This legislation just chopped the legs off the uranium monster,” said Norman Brown of Dine´ Bidzii.

“It was kind of sad to see (language) stricken, but the overall intent of the legislation remains,” added Lynnea Smith of ENDAUM, which has pursued a ban against uranium mining and processing for more than 10 years.

“The people have spoken and our leaders have listened to the people,” said delegate Alice Benally of Crownpoint, after hugging Smith. “Our people are still dying from this. This legislation was important to Navajo Nation, a very big step for Navajo people.” Tuesday also saw two supplemental appropriation bills pass, including one that will pay Shiprock more than $70,000 to help boost the employment rate.

The Unreserved, Undesigned Fund Balance began the day at $7.2 million, far short of the required minimum of $59 million and it got smaller with the passage of the two supplemental funding bills.

One spending bill called for $32,567.71 for the Navajo Ethics and Rules Office, with amendments for $294,978 for an animal control program and $3 million for the Public Employment Program. Each chapter received a standard equal amount of the appropriation plus an amount based on number of registered voters living in the chapter. Shiprock will receive a total of $72,749.; Hogback will receive $27,543; and Upper Fruitland will receive $28,844.

The bill passed by a vote of 64-14 with Begaye, Charley, Pete Atcitty and Bates all voting for it and Keeswood against. The bill failed in the first round of voting when $146,000 for two tractors to revitalize 2,000 acres of land in Many Farms was attached as an amendment.

The first vote was 38 for and 32 against with 59 yay votes needed. Local delegates’ votes were the same except for Atcitty and Charley, who both voted no.

The other appropriations bill saw $354,709 approved for the Division of Public Safety to purchase self-contained breathing apparatus; $605,000 to be divided among the chapters at $5,000 per delegate per chapter as discretionary funds; $60,000 in discretionary funds for the speaker and also the same amount in discretionary funds for the president.

That measure passed by a vote of 72-9 with Atcitty, Begaye, Charley, Bates and Keeswood all voting for it.

A key vote that will have a large impact on the Nation was the defeat of a bill that would have extended a limited waiver of Sovereign Immunity. The waiver, which allows the Nation to be sued in federal court regarding compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act in carrying out Housing and Urban Development grants, passed in 2000, recently expired.

Despite being informed that no suit had been filed since the waiver was granted, 58 delegates voted to approve it and 14 to shoot down. The bill required 59 votes to pass.

Begaye, Charley and Keeswood voted for the bill and Atcitty and Bates voted no.

Ryan Hall: rhall@daily-times.com

ENDAUM

Eastern Navajo Dine Against Uranium Mining
P.O. Box 150 Crownpoint, New Mexico 87313
Phone Number: (505) 786-5209
Fax Number: (505) 786-7275
http://www.endaum.org

April 4, 2005

Public Radio piece on the Alaska Native Delegation visit to Nevada.

Alaska Public Radio aired a story on this trip last night and you can hear it at Alaska Public Radio

DILLINGHAM, AK (2005-04-05) Bristol Bay residents are speaking out against a proposed mining district after returning from a tour of mine sites in Nevada.

Two weeks ago 17 Native leaders and environmental workers from the Bristol Bay Watershed spent five days visiting open pit mines and affected communities in Nevada.

Scott Brennan, Campaign Director
Alaskans for Responsible Mining
P.O. Box 100286
Anchorage, AK 99510
(P) 907-277-0005
(F) 907-929-1562

April 1, 2005

Here's an interesting opinion piece on Newmont from the former head of the Australian Gold Council and current director of two gold mining companies.

Newmont Mining in Indonesia:
Six employees held over pollution allegations

http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3296
By Greg Barns - posted Friday, April 01, 2005

When Indonesia's new President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono meets with Prime Minister Howard and other government officials next week, the case of Australian Phil Turner and his six Newmont Mining company colleagues is likely to get an airing.

Mr Turner and his colleagues have been incarcerated by the Indonesian authorities over allegations that Newmont has polluted water in Buyat Bay, on Sulawesi Island, with mercury and arsenic waste from a nearby gold mine.

And while the Australian Government and business community is right to be concerned about the legitimacy and fairness of the legal process currently being applied to Mr Turner and his colleagues, and its ramifications for further Australian investment in Indonesia, Newmont has done itself no favours in the way in which it has obfuscated over what has been occurring at its Indonesian operations.

The Buyat Bay mine, which closed in 2001, was a strong performer for Newmont, particularly in its last three years. Newmont pumped its mine waste into the waters of Buyat Bay and according to a hydro-geologist Robert Moran, interviewed by the New York Times last year, "because the waters in Buyat Bay are tropical, the toxic compounds in the mine waste like arsenic and cyanide compounds often became 'more mobile and more accessible to the food chain than in temperate waters'".

In fact it has been the New York Times which has done much to uncover the Buyat Bay story. On September 8 last year the Times ran a front page story that would have sent Newmont's PR division at the company's headquarters in Denver, into a tailspin.

The Times report revealed a March 2002 letter written by Isa Karnisa Ardiputra, a senior official in the Indonesian Environment Department. In this letter Mr Ardiputra challenged Newmont over the "toxicity" of the mine waste it was dumping into Buyat Bay and demanded immediate action. Yet when the Times showed Richard Ness - Newmont's man in charge of its Indonesian operations - the letter, he reckoned that he had never seen it.

Newmont has lined up an impressive array of scientific evidence to support its claim that its executives did not pollute the waters of Buyat Bay and therefore endanger the health of those who live in the area. This expertise includes that of the CSIRO which concluded last year "that Buyat Bay waters suffer no pollution of heavy metals and that the fish tissue metal concentrations are at normal levels," according to a Newmont announcement of October 22 last year. That announcement went on to note, "When the CSIRO report is combined with the results of the (World Health Organisation and Japan based) Minamata Institute Report and the recently released Indonesian Government Integrated Team report, the data provides an extensive picture of the environment and irrefutable scientific evidence that there is no pollution in Buyat Bay waters".

But Newmont's seemingly strong defence was undermined by a further article in the New York Times three days before Christmas last year. It revealed an internal Newmont memorandum written by Lawrence Kurlander, the company's chief administrative officer on January 18, 2001. Mr Kurlander admonished his colleagues for their failure to uphold environmental standards at Newmont's operations in Peru and Indonesia. As the Times reported, in a memorandum dated January 18, 2001, to Newmont's Chief Executive, Wayne W. Murdy, Mr Kurlander indicated that in his view "there is concern we are not operating at US standards in Uzbekistan and Indonesia".

Newmont, it should be noted, adamantly denies the charges made by the New York Times. It says that it has sent the Times an extensive and detailed statement rebutting the vast majority of the Times' allegations against it. Newmont also points out that three Buyat Bay villagers dropped a US$543 million law suit against the company prior to Christmas last year.

But on March 10 this year Indonesian Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar announced that Indonesia will seek US$100 million in damages from Newmont for alleged pollution in the Buyat Bay area.

On Channel 9's Business Sunday last weekend, Noke Kiroyan, president of the Australia Indonesia Business Council, observed "the fact that executives of a mining company are detained by the police and even jailed for some time is very disconcerting to say the least". And, according to Mr Kiroyan, the treatment of the Newmont executives is "not something that would promote investment because if it can happen to Newmont it can happen to anyone".

Mr Kiroyan is ignoring two key facts in this case. First, there appear to be some facts which support a case of causing harm to the environment and community around Buyat Bay. And second, Newmont's defence of its executive and their actions is being undermined by at least one internal critic of the company's environmental practices and that the company might have ignored the Indonesian Environment Ministry's concerns as far back as March 2002.

This is not a simple case of a capricious developing world government gunning for a foreign company. It's much more complex than that. Something that the Howard Government may want to keep in mind when it meets with President Yudhoyono.

Greg Barns is a former state and federal government adviser and a Hobart based author. He was CEO of the Australian Gold Council from 2000-02. He is currently a director of two Australian based gold mining and exploration companies.