It’s taken a quarter of a century for authorities in the Canadian province of Newfoundland to formally recognise that toxic pollution at a closed-down mine has probably been poisoning local residents and workers over many decades. Last week, blood tests were being carried out on very young children in the town of Buchans, with voluntary testing being offered to adults. Why has US copper major, ASARCO – the mine’s operator and effective manager of this “company town” for 60 years – apparently escaped responsibility for its operations? ASARCO is just about to be taken over, and effectively refinanced, by either Grupo Mexico or Vedanta Resources, depending on a decision by a US court. One wonders if anyone involved in that particular corporate “battle” has even heard of the tiny township of Buchans and the struggles of its citizens? [Comment by Nostromo Research, London, 11 November 2009].
Read more at http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=9537.