2.3 Case Studies
2.3.1 Mexico: The August 2014 Buenavista del Cobre
Disaster
2.3.1.1 Company Profile
Buenavista del Cobre S.A de C.V, currently owned by German Larrea MotaVelasco, Mexico’s second richest man (Estevez 2017), is one of Mexico’s most
famous mining companies. It has been operating since 1926 and became a subsidiary
of Grupo México in 1990 (BNAmericas 2018a). Buenavista del Cobre is not only the
largest mercury mine in the nation owned by one man but also one of the California
mines jointly producing 9/10ths of the mercury mined in the United States
(Middlecamp 2018). Based in the northwest of Mexico in Cananea, Sonora, the
Buenavista mine – yielding ca. 36 million tons of ore grading 3.3% zinc, 0.69%
copper, and over 33 million oz. of silver – is sited 35 km south of the US border close
to Nogales, Arizona (Wikipedia 2018b).
Grupo México and the Buenavista del Cobre mine have become noticeable with
various acts of environmental pollution, resulting in nine complaints against the
mine since 2008 (Trevizo and López 2014). In 2009, Grupo México had to pay
$1.79 billion to the US government to settle hazardous waste pollution at over
80 sites contaminated by its Asarco mining operations in 19 states (Trevizo and
López 2014).
2.3.1.2 The Disaster and Its Environmental and Social Consequences
On August 6, 2014, Buenavista del Cobre spilled 10 million gallons, i.e., 40,000 m
3 ,
of copper sulfate acid and high levels of arsenic into public waterways near
Cananea, damaging the Sonora and Bacanuchi rivers (Wilton 2015; Guevara
2014; Estevez 2017) and inverting the lives of 25,000 people in seven counties
along the river (Trevizo and López 2014). Juan José Guerra Abud, Mexico’s
Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources, called this ecological disaster
“the worst environmental disaster by the mining industry in modern times” (Wilton
2014), posing an immense threat to human health by highly dangerous toxins,
leading to a dramatic loss of public drinking waters (Lindsaynewlandbowker
2014). According to Alberto Rojas Rueda, head of Greenpeace Mexico, the
chemicals could enter the food chain, poisoning humans and animals; the decontamination of the area might take 15–20 years (Wilton 2014). PROFEPA, Mexico’s
Federal Department of Environmental Protection, stated in an official report: “The
spill of the copper sulphate solution could put the integrity of the ecosystem at
risk. . .When a spill of dangerous substances remains unattended, it can cause
persistent and increasing damage to the soil, subsoil, water and other natural
resources” (Wilton 2014).
2 Mining Environmental Disasters in North and South America: The. . .
21
2.3.1 Mexico: The August 2014 Buenavista del Cobre
Disaster
2.3.1.1 Company Profile
Buenavista del Cobre S.A de C.V, currently owned by German Larrea MotaVelasco, Mexico’s second richest man (Estevez 2017), is one of Mexico’s most
famous mining companies. It has been operating since 1926 and became a subsidiary
of Grupo México in 1990 (BNAmericas 2018a). Buenavista del Cobre is not only the
largest mercury mine in the nation owned by one man but also one of the California
mines jointly producing 9/10ths of the mercury mined in the United States
(Middlecamp 2018). Based in the northwest of Mexico in Cananea, Sonora, the
Buenavista mine – yielding ca. 36 million tons of ore grading 3.3% zinc, 0.69%
copper, and over 33 million oz. of silver – is sited 35 km south of the US border close
to Nogales, Arizona (Wikipedia 2018b).
Grupo México and the Buenavista del Cobre mine have become noticeable with
various acts of environmental pollution, resulting in nine complaints against the
mine since 2008 (Trevizo and López 2014). In 2009, Grupo México had to pay
$1.79 billion to the US government to settle hazardous waste pollution at over
80 sites contaminated by its Asarco mining operations in 19 states (Trevizo and
López 2014).
2.3.1.2 The Disaster and Its Environmental and Social Consequences
On August 6, 2014, Buenavista del Cobre spilled 10 million gallons, i.e., 40,000 m
3 ,
of copper sulfate acid and high levels of arsenic into public waterways near
Cananea, damaging the Sonora and Bacanuchi rivers (Wilton 2015; Guevara
2014; Estevez 2017) and inverting the lives of 25,000 people in seven counties
along the river (Trevizo and López 2014). Juan José Guerra Abud, Mexico’s
Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources, called this ecological disaster
“the worst environmental disaster by the mining industry in modern times” (Wilton
2014), posing an immense threat to human health by highly dangerous toxins,
leading to a dramatic loss of public drinking waters (Lindsaynewlandbowker
2014). According to Alberto Rojas Rueda, head of Greenpeace Mexico, the
chemicals could enter the food chain, poisoning humans and animals; the decontamination of the area might take 15–20 years (Wilton 2014). PROFEPA, Mexico’s
Federal Department of Environmental Protection, stated in an official report: “The
spill of the copper sulphate solution could put the integrity of the ecosystem at
risk. . .When a spill of dangerous substances remains unattended, it can cause
persistent and increasing damage to the soil, subsoil, water and other natural
resources” (Wilton 2014).
2 Mining Environmental Disasters in North and South America: The. . .
21