Lead mines secretly reopening

Lead mines which poisoned rivers & villages in Kanchanaburi, owned by a powerful family, slowly & secretly preparing to open again.

MORE FEARS: Surapong Kongchantuk, director of the Karen Studies and Development Centre, shows where pollution was caused by lead mining in Lower Klity village in Kanchanaburi.

Read a news article on this subject here.

Click button to listen to Lead Mines Return download 

ENVIRONMENT

Mining threat comes back to haunt us

29 May 2013
Sanitsuda Ekachai

At first I could not believe my eyes. We were driving along a rugged dirt road in a protected forest in Kanchanaburi. Then, all of a sudden, a vast barren landscape covered with a thick white mass sprang up in the midst of green tropical forest.

What on earth could this bizarre sight possibly be? 

Welcome to the Kemco mine. Welcome to its sea of lead residue that stretches as far as the eye can see, glistening in the sun and killing all the plants along its destructive path.

I still remember vividly how I felt when I saw this massive swathe of environmental destruction some years back. First disbelief. Then anger.

How could the mining and forest authorities allow this to happen

How could the forest authorities be so ruthless with forest dwellers and poor, landless farmers, yet so impotent with the mining industry?

How could the mineral resources authorities allow this environmentally destructive mine to continue doing its business as if nothing happened?

Why didn't they close it down, punish the polluters and force them to pay for the clean-up?

Why?

I guess you and I already know the maddening answer.

The last I heard from the locals, the deadly sea of lead residue is still there in Lam Klong Ngoo National Park, adjacent to Thungyai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary, also a Unesco World Heritage Site.

As of yesterday, the Google Earth satellite image of the forested area still shows massive white scars from the sky. It's clear the wounds inflicted by decades of irresponsible mining have not yet healed. No rehabilitation efforts have been carried out. No polluters have been punished. Yet the mining authorities are contemplating reopening the destructive Kemco mine.

We cannot blame the locals if they are angry, can we?

Kemco, or the Song Tor mine as it is called by the locals, is among a string of lead mines in Kanchanaburi forest. The same powerful family ran these mines, including the lead factory which, for decades, released toxic waste water into Klity Creek and ruined the lives of ethnic Karen forest dwellers there.

Located deep in Lam Klong Ngoo National Park, about 20km from the Klity lead factory, the operations at Kemco were far more extensive. Like at Klity, toxic waste was released into the natural environment.

Since Kemco and other lead mines sat on limestone mountains, no one knows how much toxic wastewater escaped through the webs of underground caves and waterways before it flowed into the tributaries of Kanchanaburi's Kwai Noi and Kwai Yai rivers

For your information, both Kwai Noi and Kwai Yai flow into the Meklong River, which feed our tapwater plants

The Kemco disaster was a well-kept secret until the Klity Karen started their legal battle to close the lead factory in their village and demanded a clean-up of their only waterway.

When it was revealed that Kemco was also operating illegally because it had not obtained formal permission from the Forest Department for its land use, nothing happened. When the sea of lead residue was exposed, nothing happened either. Kemco and other lead mines in the area continued to operate until their mining licences expired. The polluters were not punished. Nor were the authorities concerned.

Some might think the locals are overreacting to the Mineral Resources Department hiring Chulalongkorn University to conduct a feasibility study on old lead mines, which include Kemco, Bor Yai and Krerng Kravia. But why spend money on the study if there is no plan to reopen them?

Interestingly, this feasibility study coincides with the Mineral Resources Department's push for a new mining bill. If given the green light, it will allow mining in all areas that the department sees fit, including environmentally sensitive rain-catchment forests.

Land use permission from forest authorities will no longer be required, nor environmental impact assessments by mine operators.

The bill will also give the department boss the authority to issue mining licences himself.

Thanks to the outcry from environmentalists, the cabinet has ordered mining authorities to "conduct more studies". We see what's coming, however.

If people let down their guard, the mining bill will make a comeback, and mining's assault on the environment will return to haunt us again.

Sanitsuda Ekachai is Editorial Pages Editor, Bangkok Post

(Source: Bangkok Post, COMMENTARY, Mining threat comes back to haunt us, 29 May 2013, Sanitsuda Ekachai, link) 


Mining & the Environment Vocabulary

lead - a very heavy metal that is also poisonous ตะกั่ว (See Wikipedia)
mine - a hole in the ground to get metal ore (แร่) out from เหมืองแร่, บ่อแร่
lead mine

lead poisoning - lead can be very poisonous (toxic) and even deadly (See Wikipedia)
toxic - poisonous and harmful to people, animals, or the environment มีพิษ,เป็นพิษ

Klity village - a Karen village near lead mines in Kanchanaburi where many people suffered lead poisoning from contaminated water, villagers fought for years and years to to be compensated for the losses they suffered (See Blacksmith Institute & report & summary)

mining - the activity of getting metal ore out from under the ground
threat - a danger อันตราย
mining threat - the danger of mining (coming back)

environment (noun) - everything in nature (mountains, rivers, trees, plants, animals), not man-made สิ่งแวดล้อม
environmentally (adverb)

destructive - causing great damage or harm ซึ่งเป็นการทำลาย
environmentally destructive
environmentally destructive mine

haunt - (of a ghost) to appear in a place repeatedly หลอกหลอน to cause repeated trouble, suffering or anxiety ทำให้กังวล, รบกวน
come back to haunt us
will return to haunt us again

Mining threat comes back to haunt us

could not believe my eyes - was surprised
At first I could not believe my eyes.

rugged - ขรุขระ
rugged dirt road

protected forest - a special forest area that the government does not allow people or companies to use (keeps it natural) 

We were driving along a rugged dirt road in a protected forest in Kanchanaburi.

landscape - the view of the land in an area (with mountains, valleys, streams, etc) ภูมิภาพ, ภาพทิวทัศน์บก, ภูมิทัศน์

barren - dry and empty with few plants growing แห้งแล้ง กันดาร
barren landscape

vast - extremely large in area, size, amount, etc. กว้างใหญ่, มหาศาล  มหึมา  ส่วนใหญ่
a vast barren landscape

mass - ก้อน, มวล
thick white mass
covered with a thick white mass

tropical - relating to the hottest area of the Earth, between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn ในเขตร้อน
tropical forest

in the midst of - inside some place,  in the middle of
in the midst of green tropical forest

sprang up - to appear suddenly

At first I could not believe my eyes. We were driving along a rugged dirt road in a protected forest in Kanchanaburi. Then, all of a sudden, a vast barren landscape covered with a thick white mass sprang up in the midst of green tropical forest.

bizarre - strange and difficult to understand and explain
bizarre sight

What on earth .... - meaning: surprised ....

What on earth could this bizarre sight possibly be? 

residue - a small amount that remains after most has disappeared, the leftovers or remains ส่วนที่เหลือ
lead residue
a sea of lead residue

glistening - shining as if wet ที่แวววาว ที่ระยิบระยับ
glistening in the sun and killing all the plants along its destructive path.

stretches
sea of lead residue that stretches as far as the eye can see,

Welcome to the Kemco mine. Welcome to its sea of lead residue that stretches as far as the eye can see, glistening in the sun and killing all the plants along its destructive path.

destruction - when something is destroyed การทำลาย, ภาวะที่ถูกทำลาย
environmental destruction

massive - very large in size, amount or number ใหญ่โต
swathe - a very long area or stretch of something (example: a swathe of land)
massive swathe of environmental destruction

vividly - very clearly
I remember vividly...  - can see it very clearly in your memory .... 

I still remember vividly how I felt when I saw this massive swathe of environmental destruction some years back. First disbelief. Then anger.

authorities - the government, the people who control and govern some activity; people who have the power to make decisions and enforce laws ผู้มีอำนาจ เจ้าหน้าที่
mining and forest authorities

How could the mining and forest authorities allow this to happen?

dwellers - people who live in a place
forest dwellers - people who live in the forest

ruthless - very cruel; will do anything to get what you want; not thinking or worrying about any pain caused to other ไร้ความปรานี, โหดเหี้ยม
ruthless with forest dwellers

the forest authorities were ruthless with forest dwellers and poor, landless farmers

impotent - 1. powerless; without power; 2. when a man cannot get an erect penis so cannot make babies

the forest authorities were so impotent with the mining industry

How could the forest authorities be so ruthless with forest dwellers and poor, landless farmers, yet so impotent with the mining industry?

mineral - a valuable or useful chemical substance which is formed naturally in the ground แร่
resources - things such as coal, trees and oil that exist in nature and can be used by people ทรัพยากร
mineral resources authorities

How could the mineral resources authorities allow this environmentally destructive mine to continue doing its business as if nothing happened?

clean-up
punish the polluters and force them to pay for the clean-up

locals - people who live in a particular place ชาวบ้าน
adjacent - very near, next to, or touching ติดกัน

The last I heard from the locals, the deadly sea of lead residue is still there in Lam Klong Ngoo National Park, adjacent to Thungyai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary, also a Unesco World Heritage Site.

image - any picture, especially one formed by a mirror or a lens ภาพ
satellite image

scar - an ugly mark on the outside of a person or thing แผลเป็น, รอยแผลเป็น
massive white scars

As of yesterday, the Google Earth satellite image of the forested area still shows massive white scars from the sky.

irresponsible - do things without thinking about negative effects
irresponsible mining

decades - periods of ten years เป็นสิบๆปี
decades of irresponsible mining

heal  - when a place where you are cut (wound) closes and a scar forms over it สมานแผล
wounds inflicted not yet healed

wounds inflicted not yet healed.
wounds inflicted by decades of irresponsible mining

clear - easy to understand
It's clear ....

It's clear the wounds inflicted by decades of irresponsible mining have not yet healed.

rehabilitation - improve condition so that it can operate again; making a system, building, etc., suitable for use again, i.e., bringing it back to a good condition การฟื้นฟูสภาพกิจการ  การทำให้กลับสู่สภาพเดิม, การทำให้กลับมาดีเหมือนเดิม

efforts - the work done towards achieving some goal ความพยายาม
rehabilitation efforts

carry out - do
carry out rehabilitation efforts

No rehabilitation efforts have been carried out. No polluters have been punished.

contemplating - thinking about doing something in the future

Yet the mining authorities are contemplating reopening the destructive Kemco mine.

toxic - poisonous and harmful to people, animals, or the environment มีพิษ,เป็นพิษ
toxic waste water 

released - to let flow out
released toxic waste water into creek

ruined - destroyed; spoiled
ruined the lives of ethnic Karen forest dwellers

Kemco, or the Song Tor mine as it is called by the locals, is among a string of lead mines in Kanchanaburi forest. The same powerful family ran these mines, including the lead factory which, for decades, released toxic waste water into Klity Creek and ruined the lives of ethnic Karen forest dwellers there.

extensive - includes a wide variety ที่มีมากมาย
far more extensive
the operations at Kemco were far more extensive

natural - found in nature (not made in a factory by humans) ตามธรรมชาติ
environment - the natural world of land, sea, plants, and animals
natural environment

Located deep in Lam Klong Ngoo National Park, about 20km from the Klity lead factory, the operations at Kemco were far more extensive. Like at Klity, toxic waste was released into the natural environment.

tributaries - rivers or streams that flow into a larger river or lake ลำธาร หรือ แม่น้ำสายเล็ก ๆ
the tributaries of a river

Since Kemco and other lead mines sat on limestone mountains, no one knows how much toxic wastewater escaped through the webs of underground caves and waterways before it flowed into the tributaries of Kanchanaburi's Kwai Noi and Kwai Yai rivers

tap water - water that comes out of the public water system at homes or business
tap water plant

feed - when something small runs into and adds to a larger thing 
the rivers feed our tap water plant

For your information, both Kwai Noi and Kwai Yai flow into the Meklong River, which feed our tapwater plants

disaster - something very bad that happens and causes a lot of damage or kills a lot of people ความหายนะ ภัยพิบัติ
the Kemco disaster

well-kept secret - a secret about something that people hard tried to prevent people knowing about
the disaster was a well-kept secret

The Kemco disaster was a well-kept secret until the Klity Karen started their legal battle to close the lead factory in their village and demanded a clean-up of their only waterway.

revealed - made known or showed somthing that was surprising or that was previously secret เปิดเผย
it was revealed that the mine was operating illegally

permission - allowing someone to do something การอนุญาต,การอนุมัติ,การยินยอม
the mine had not obtained formal permission for its land use

exposed - not protected from something ได้รับ ได้สัมผัส (แดด หรือสารพิษ เป็นต้น) openly affected by and not protected from ได้รับ ในที่นี้หมายถึง สูดควันบุหรี่ made known; uncovered เปิดเยต่อ
the sea of lead residue was exposed, nothing happened

expired - ended, finished, no longer valid หมดอายุ สิ้นสุด
mining licences expired

lead mines in the area continued to operate until their mining licences expired

concerned - worried about something มีความกังวล
the authorities were not concerned

When it was revealed that Kemco was also operating illegally because it had not obtained formal permission from the Forest Department for its land use, nothing happened. When the sea of lead residue was exposed, nothing happened either. Kemco and other lead mines in the area continued to operate until their mining licences expired. The polluters were not punished. Nor were the authorities concerned.

hiring - when a company formally gives a person a job (a contract is signed) การว่าจ้าง

feasibility - something can be done, it is possible to do successfully 
feasibility study - when experts check to see if something can be done (not too difficult to do)

conduct - to do something in an organised way; to carry out
conduct a feasibility study

hiring - to get someone to do some work for you
hiring university to conduct a feasibility study on old lead mines

Some might think the locals are overreacting to the Mineral Resources Department hiring Chulalongkorn University to conduct a feasibility study on old lead mines, which include Kemco, Bor Yai and Krerng Kravia. But why spend money on the study if there is no plan to reopen them?

bill - a written document containing a proposal for a new law ญัตติ
mining bill.

Interestingly, this feasibility study coincides with the Mineral Resources Department's push for a new mining bill.

rain-catchment forests - a forest that rain collects in and flows down to valleys to form rivers

sensitive - easily influenced, changed or damaged, especially by a physical activity or effect รับอิทธิ-พลภายนอกได้ง่าย
environmentally sensitive
environmentally sensitive rain-catchment forests

If given the green light, it will allow mining in all areas that the department sees fit, including environmentally sensitive rain-catchment forests.

impact - the effect or influence that some event has, the good or harm that an event does ผลกระทบ
environmental impact
environmental impact assessments

operators - companies running some kind of business
mine operators

Land use permission from forest authorities will no longer be required, nor environmental impact assessments by mine operators.

authority - the power to make decisions that others have to follow; the power to make decisions and control events อำนาจ, อำนาจในการสั่งการ
give the boss the authority to ....

issue - to give or provide something official แจกจ่าย to officially announce or give out ออก, ออกประกาศ, ออกคำสั่ง
issue mining licences 

The bill will also give the department boss the authority to issue mining licences himself.

outcry - public reaction of strong anger and disapproval การคัดค้านอย่างรุนแรง
the outcry from environmentalists

Thanks to the outcry from environmentalists, the cabinet has ordered mining authorities to "conduct more studies". We see what's coming, however.

let down their guard - not defend yourself, not protect yourself

comeback - a period when someone or something becomes successful or popular again การกลับมา(ดัง) อีกครั้ง กลับคืนสู่สนาม กลับมามีชื่อเสีัยงอีกครั้ง
make a comeback
the mining bill will make a comeback

assault - a physical attack on someone or something การทำร้าย   การจู่โจม
assault on the environment

If people let down their guard, the mining bill will make a comeback, and mining's assault on the environment will return to haunt us again.