It was on the 6 of August 2014, when a company producing copper acted recklessly leading to the loss of livestock and plants and leaving people with no water to consume and cultivate. On that day a bull collapsed and succumbed to death while drinking water from Bacanuchi River. Soon after the incident even the coyotes and the Gila monsters were running for their lives as the water they knew had been contaminated. Finally, Grupo Mexico family told the journalists that a mistake had been made at its open-pit copper mine right outside of Cananea, a remote town of 20000 in northern Mexico, high desert (Reuters, 2018). The mistake, however, was responsible for the release of 40000 cubic meters containing copper sulfate into the Tinajas River, which together with the Bacanuchi, creates part of the vast Rio Sonora's watershed. However, before the spill, the Grupo Mexico workers were on strike complaining of poor working conditions and lack of safety measures in the company. After the copper spill, GM failed to recognize that the mistake had been created by overworked and under-trained contractors, bussed in to break a bitter and long strike over the similar safety conditions that allowed the spill to occur (Wilton 2015). This essay will assess the damage caused by the environmental disaster by discussing the events that led to the spill and the effects it had on living and non-living things.
Open-pit mining involves blowing rock out of a quarry, after that the rock is crushed and leached to get valuable metals using acids. The waste or leftover liquid is the dumped into huge toxic holding ponds. Before the spill occurred, GM had speed its extraction rates, without considering that the unionized employees were still on strike (Morales, Aparicio, & Canales, 2014). Accelerating production meant that many ponds had to be created so that they could hold the increasing wastes around the wells. This operation was over the watch of low-wage contractors who were contracted to replace the striking skilled workers. The top total number of local members who were on strike was 65. During the heavy downpours or rains, a pipe slippage allowed one among the newly contracted holding ponds to overflow. This resulted in the spillage of ten million gallons of sulfuric acid without anyone recognizing. The spill occurred on 6th August but was reported to the authorities on 7th August. Therefore, little could be done as the damage had been done already.
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Consequently, the spill released toxins into the rivers and that meant that the life of both living and non-living things was negatively affected. The spills affected an area which hosted 24000 people coming from five different tribes. The spills contained, aluminum, zinc, and iron. All these are harmful to both living and non-living things. For living things, humans were the first to be affected. Numerous people relied on the river water for consumption and agriculture (Aparicio, & Canales, 2017). However, after the spill many continued to drink and use the water since the water which was being supplied by GM was not enough. After using the contaminated water for a while, people started developing health issues. According to the test carried out, many individuals tested positive on having heavy metals in their bloodstreams. The presence of toxic metals can have a long-term effect on humans’ organs, for instance, the liver, the renal and the lungs, the reproductive systems among others and have been linked with cancer, osteoporosis, and hepatitis. The plant is also an example of living things which were affected by the spills (Bernardino, 2018). The toxic metals were also spilled on soil this meant that the soil was not good for agriculture. Therefore, plants could not thrive in the areas affected by the spills reading to lose of harvest. Livestock and cattle were also adversely affected by the acid. A lot of cattle died when they drunk the contaminated water. Therefore, to avoid significant losses farmers had to sell the cattle at a throwaway price. Finally, the contaminated water affected the aquatic life leading to the death of fish and other living aquatic creature.
Similarly, the non-living thing is the one that has seized to portray the characteristics if life. Good examples of non-living things are the atmosphere, soil, water, air, among others. The spills affected the soil making it lose it fertility and therefore could no longer support plants (Bernardino, 2018). Similarly, the water atmosphere was affected leading to the destruction of the ozone layer which lead to changes in climate. Similarly, the presence of acidic rain has continued to affect the soil of the Sonora region.
The damage which occurred as a result of human agency is that the company employed undertrained and unqualified workers who failed to monitor the pounds and the pipes leading to the leakages. This means that the company was responsible for the copper spills that have affected the lives of humans and live stocks around the five communities living in Sanora.
References
Aparicio, A. T., & Canales, P. H. (2017). Socio-Environmental Risk Management. The case of the Buenavista Copper Mine in Cananea. Investigaciones Geograficas, Boletin del Instituto de Geografia, 93(2017), 126-139.
Bernardino, M. M. (2018). When a Mining Company Releases of Copper Sulphate Acid Solution into the Environment. In Green Crime in Mexico (pp. 181-203). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Morales, J., Aparicio, A. T., & Canales, P. H. In August 2014, a 40 thousand square meters acidified copper sulphate spill took place at the Buenavista del Cobre mine, which belongs to Grupo Mexico, located in Cananea, Sonora. It flowed down the Tinajas stream, as well as the Bacanuchi and Sonora rivers to El Molinito dam, which supplies water to Hermosillo City. The spill brought about the worst socio-environmental disaster linked to the mining...
Reuters, (2018). Mexican Mining Spill Could Cost Grupo Mexico Millions-Agency. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/article/mexico-grupomexico/mexican-mining-spill-could-cost-grupo-mexico-millions-agency-idUSL1N0QW1SS20140826 http://geo-mexico.com/?tag=pollution
Wilton J. (2015). Mexico’s Worst Environmental Disaster in Modern Times. Retrieved from https://newint.org/features/web-exclusive/2015/01/08/mexico-environment-disaster
