Water is life, enough of converting her into a commodity,
we must defend our river before agro-industry and the mines dry it up...
25 mining projects en Valley Elqui are going to leave us without water. We have to defend her!
From my first day walking from the house into the centre of La Serena I was struck by the amount of graffiti and signs pasted on street walls shouting out these strong messages about the water problems facing the region as a result of the mines. When I asked Mauro, he explained some of the background, that the northern regions of Chile have been drying out as a result of the mining activity which Chile's economy is largely based on. The insanity is that despite the contamination and reduction of water On our journey to and from Valley Elqui this drying out was all too apparent in the unusually low levels of water in a dam the lads pointed out, and the insanity is that despite the obvious environmental and social implications there are more and more mining projects planned.
I learned more about the water crisis during the afternoon of painting la Divina in Parque Coll, where we listened to the music, poetry and talks from the host group of local activists raising awareness of these issues within the community. This poster focuses particularly on the issue of contaminated waste waters. The company Aguas del Valle is supposed to be responsible for the treatment of wastewaters produced by the processes of mines, but apparently is failing the community miserably, leading to contamination of the sea around La Serena and Coquimbo, resulting in illness from eating contaminated seafood.
Aguas del Valle: A company without environmental commitment.
Despite the years of this company promoting the campaign "Healthy Water" in local schools, the result is that really they are lying to our children. This company has fought against us, without investing in the environment, here are some examples:
1) The contamination of the sea in front of Coquimbo and La Serena with waste waters, in spite of charging us monthly for water treatment that doesn't exist (that is to say, moreover, we are paying for our own contamination.)
2)Destruction of part of La Pampilla for the installation of the wastewater plant, and since 2006 to date there has been not one repair made by the company. (They have not implemented measures of relief.)
3) There are booster plants for waste waters in various sectors of the community, but not one urban improvement has been made in their surroundings (lamps, walkways, beautifications)
Tragically the contamination of the water is so severe that there have been deaths due to eating the poisoned seafood. According to this article published in El Observatodo on 7th February, in just the 11 days prior to its being written there had been 23 cases of food poisoning in Coquimbo as a result of eating contaminated seafood, including the death of a 73-year-old woman. Unsurprisingly the companies are blaming the quality of the preparation of the seafood, but as the environmentalists say, it is evident that the issue of water contamination is to blame.
At Mauro's invitation I attended the talk S.O.S Huaco hosted at La Universidad de La Serena, and learned that the environmental issues facing Chile as a result of mining are widespread and severe. Activists from northern Chile's Huasco province spoke about the issues facing their communities as a result of multiple industrial projects that have destroyed the traditional agricultural and fishing industries and led to increasing numbers of cancer cases, which have led to the region being named Chile's "Sacrificial Zone."
The activity of an enormous thermoelectric power plant and the dumping of waste products from an iron refinery mean there are now no fish in Huasco's sea, and the port is now completely inactive. The electric plant exists to supply the energy greedy processes of the mines, and the activity of one gold mine in a nearby glacier, whose processes require huge volumes of water, has resulted in the drying out of the local river Río Huasco resulting in the loss of local olive crops. The activists showed photos of the glacier in 2005 and 2009, demonstrating the huge loss of water, over half of the volume of the glacier in just four years.
Other problems face their neighbours in Freirina where a giant pig slaughterhouse is poisoning the air, the horrendous smell enough to motivate locals to protest in the streets in hundreds, demanding reforms and environmental responsibility from the companies responsible.
One of the concerning issues raised by S.O.S Huasco is the masking or distracting by the companies, who try to buy the support and positive opinions of local communities by offering new pavements, a new lick of paint for the Mayor's offices, a shiny trophy for local kids football tournaments, depressing manipulations that serve to distract locals' attention from the severity of the environmental damage being caused in their back yards.
This meeting really stirred up a lot of emotion in me, and I left the meeting with my mind spinning about potential ways to use my animation-marketing experience to in some small way support the cause through information sharing... let's see what comes together over the next few weeks.
In some ways these issues are local and national issues within Chile. But as environmental issues that affect the future of our world and the future world of our children and grandchildren, they are also of international concern. Not least because the majority of these plants are owned by foreign companies, the three main investors being Canada, Italy, and depressingly for us Brits, England. Indeed over 70% of the income generated by the activity of these poising mines goes directly into foreign pockets, meaning billions and billions of dollars are being robbed from Chile whilst its land is being raped.
The one thing that is positive is that within Chile there seems to be huge awareness and social responsibility amongst the young, students and amongst local communities and in reunions such as that in Parque Coll and this you can feel the huge energy mobilising towards actions, such as the upcoming local and national marches for water, such as the one on 22nd April in Santiago.
The S.O.S Huasco meeting ended with musician and activist Juan Carlos Labrín singing the song above, and acknowledging that although money has power, the soul-felt commitment of a community united to fight a cause close to their hearts is far more powerful and has the potential for far-reaching results.
Speech is our second possession after soul, and perhaps we have no other possession in this world.
G. Mistral.
Our Mother Earth is crying...
we must change how we treat her,
we have to take care of her!
Valle Elquí, Chile, March 2013
My heart and soul are with this group in their fight. I truly hope they achieve their goal of halting the poisonous activity of these plants.
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