Goldcorp’s Marlin mine
The Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala has raised the issue of Vancouver-based Goldcorp’s Marlin mine in Guatemala. The combination open pit and underground mine is located about 300 kilometres northwest of Guatemala City.
THE MINE’S IMPACT ON WATER: E-Tech International, a US-based non-governmental organization, has expressed concern that tailings water from the mine is seeping into a downstream tributary. In 2009, a research team from the Pastoral Commission for Peace and Ecology confirmed the Marlin mine had contaminated local water supplies. And University of Ghent researchers believe the mine is depleting surface water causing arsenic-rich groundwater to be drawn into surface waters, and that arsenic may be the reason for skin problems being found among local residents.
HEALTH AND HUMAN RIGHTS: In May 2010, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights issued ‘precautionary measures’ urging that the mine be suspended in order to ensure the health and safety of affected communities, and as a result of the severity of alleged underlying human rights violations regarding the lack of consultation and consent from local indigenous peoples. Almost a year later, the mine still continues to operate; and intimidation and threats persist against those who are critical of the mine.
TAKE ACTION: The Goldcorp annual shareholders meeting will take place on Wednesday May 18 in Vancouver. Concerned shareholders have prepared a resolution for this meeting that asks Goldcorp to suspend operations at its Marlin mine as requested by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board currently has $256 million worth of shares in Goldcorp and many are asking that it vote for this resolution. The company, however, has recommended that shareholders vote against the resolution. And a protest is being planned for that day. Organizers are asking people to meet at Waterfront Station, 601 West Cordova St at 9:15 am. The march will go to both the Goldcorp meeting as well as the Canada Pension Plan office in Vancouver.
For more information, go to http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/6497/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=6657 and http://www.miningwatch.ca/en/what-you-may-not-know-about-goldcorps-marlin-mine-guatemala.
