Troubled-Waters_FINAL

EARTHWORkS EARTHWORkS AnD miningWATcH AnD miningWATcH cAnADA cAnADA | 2012
cOncLUSiOn AnD REcOmmEnDATiOnS
ABOvE: The
Misima mine,
now closed,
dumped tailings
off the in Papua
New Guinean
coast.
WaTer is of groWing iMPorTanCe in a world where
climate change impacts, including droughts, are increasingly
noticeable and human population will likely reach 9 billion
people by 2050. Freshwater resources are critical to human
and ecosystem survival but are increasingly threatened by
depletion and pollution. The ocean and its resources are also
under unprecedented and unsustainable pressure from direct
contamination such as oil spills, overharvest, and through climate
change and acidification from greenhouse gas emissions. 139
The mining industry must share
the collective responsibility to protect
water and aquatic ecosystems, and the
communities that rely on them, especially
since mining produces such large quantities
of toxic waste. Tailings have destructive
impacts on natural water bodies and the
ecosystems and people dependent on them.
PHOTO: CHARLES ROCHE
Companies and governments must adopt
a precautionary approach to disposal of
tailings and ensure that mining operations
do not place tailings or other mine waste
into natural bodies of surface water,
including rivers, streams, lakes, wetlands,
and intertidal, estuarine, and marine
ecosystems.
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