The water quality is abysmal. The quantity of water has reached levels never recorded. The rivers
are dry throughout the nation. Are you going to bamboozle us with a new govt initiative to change
ocean water into potable water. What follows is one example of how by putting economy ahead of
ecology and using the resource base without an eye towards replenishing the same leads to
catastrophe.
The process to extract gold is one of many causes which has brought the quality and quantity of
water to its current tragic state. The toxic and environmentally destructive methods used to mine
gold has destroyed the quality of water and the quantity of life within those bodies. These are local
events affecting the immediate vicinity of the mine but multiply these methods to put economy
ahead of ecology times the area of the DR and the product is the current dismal state of water.
The environmental study underway of the Presa de Hatillo and surrounding area which I alluded to in my last post, addresses this issue in great detail. It includes the documentation of some problems encountered with the tailings dams (that hold back the cyanide ponds that are all over Pueblo Viejo project) and which you won't see mentioned by Barrick Gold.
There is an older thread related to some of the drastic changes in that area especially regarding La Presa de Hatillo and the surrounding rivers. When the survey is published I will link to it in that thread so as not to go too off topic here. However I will post four interesting images from the ongoing survey which already contains hundreds of images and documents.
Comparison of the size of the cities of Cotui and Bonao, the Hatillo reservoir and Barrick Pueblo Vijeo Mine
Comparison of the largest tailings pond (containing cyanide contaminated water) to Hatillo reservoir
View of several tailings ponds at the Pueblo Viejo Mine
View of the mining projects surrounding Hatillo Reservoir
Except for one tailings pond left over from the old Rosario mine, ALL of the tailings ponds in the Pueblo Viejo project were excavated from fertile, tree covered land and created by Barrick. They did not contain one drop of water before the extensive mining project started. Now they contain and process millions of gallons of cyanide contaminated water.