Video: Conga Project – Public Audience

The Public Audience of the Conga Project took place in the small village of San Nicolas of Chaihuagon in Cajamarca on March, 31 2010 where the results of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the Conga project were put forward.

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5 classic prejudices

Our lack of knowledge of the current mining industry.

1. The mining industry on the head of the river basin leaves towns without water
• Every mine, by law, has to guarantee the same quantity of water which users used to have before. A mine with social responsibility will look after harvesting more water for its neighbors.

2. Mining pollutes
• The laws and regulations have changed drastically. In Peru, the state protects the environmental equilibrium. A modern mine: Instead of avoiding the environmental liability (alleviation), its technicians generate more environmental assets (reservoirs, laboratories of agriculture experimentation, new technologies for ecological monitoring, etc)

3. Mining companies avoid people participation
• It is impossible to start a mining project without the EIA’s approval by the Ministry.
Activities promoting citizen participation are essential for an EIA. Activities promoting citizen participation are essential for an EIA, so a company committed to its community visits villages, talks to popular leaders, provides information materials, among other activities.

4. EIAs are cooked from the beginning
• Once the Environmental Impact Assessment is approved, a set of standards must be fulfilled by the company in order to ensure an adequate social and environmental management. An EIA must satisfy the regulatory framework of our country.

5. Mining impoverishes people
• Poverty is a problem that Government must face up. Mining royalty generates public incomes. However, a company aware of this big challenge, invests in social programs to improve the life quality of the neighbors. Therefore, they can go beyond and promote projects fostering institutional strengthening.

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Environmental Impact Study (EIS)

• The Environmental Impact Study (EIS) has been developed by the independent firm Knight Piésold, a specialized consultant with international experience and authorized by the Ministry of Energy and Mines (Ministerio de Energía y Minas del Perú- MEM).

• The EIS was submitted to the MEM at February 9th 2010 for its assessment and evaluation.

Conga Project Environmental Impact Study (spanish) http://elaguaprimero.blogspot.com/

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