Gabon NGO decries effects of mining
Libreville (AFP) Aug 16, 2010 – Irradiation, river pollution and low fish stocks are among the effects noted of mining in Gabon by the non-governmental organisation Brainforest in an investigation published Monday. “Projects that engender billions in investment, for the most part foreign … with considerable economic fall-out, should not be undertaken at the expense of local populations and the environment,” the report concludes. Brainforest studied the impact of mining mainly by the French companies Areva and Eramet in the eastern Haut-Ogooue region of the central African country. It chose three sites: Mounana, where uranium was mined for more than 40 years by COMUF (Uranium Mining Company of Franceville), a subsidiary of Areva; Moanda, where COMILOG (Mining Company of the Ogooue), a subsidiary of Eramet, has been mining manganese since 1962; and Poubara, where a large hydro-electric dam is being built to meet COMILOG’s energy needs. … At Moanda, watercourses have become blocked and polluted by mud and waste from COMILOG’s manganese mining operation. Local people have abandoned their traditional fishing haunts and now go several kilometres (miles) distant to hunt. In some districts, it is hard to find fresh water to drink. …
