1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910254010503321

Autore

Pacheco Cueva Vladimir

Titolo

An Assessment of Mine Legacies and How to Prevent Them : A Case Study from Latin America / / by Vladimir Pacheco Cueva

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cham : , : Springer International Publishing : , : Imprint : Springer, , 2017

ISBN

9783319539751

9783319539768 (e-book)

Edizione

[1st ed. 2017.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (XV, 61 p. 2 illus.)

Collana

SpringerBriefs in Environmental Science, , 2191-5547

Disciplina

333.8098

Soggetti

Water pollution

Hydrology

Environmental management

Mineral resources

Political planning

Environmental economics

Waste Water Technology / Water Pollution Control / Water Management / Aquatic Pollution

Hydrology/Water Resources

Water Policy/Water Governance/Water Management

Mineral Resources

Public Policy

Environmental Economics

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references.

Nota di contenuto

Chapter 1. Methodology -- Chapter 2. Knowledge about Mine Legacies, International Best Practice Standards and Mine Closure Regulation in the USA and El Salvador -- Chapter 3. Social and Historical Remarks about Mining in San Sebastian and Assessment of the Mine’s Current Legal Status -- Chapter 4. Legacies of the San Sebastian Mine -- Chapter 5. Reform, Awareness, Prevention and Remediation Strategies -- Conclusion.

Sommario/riassunto

This book seeks to enrich the growing literature on mine legacies by



examining a case study of a small abandoned mine in Latin America. Using a combination of Rapid Rural Appraisal and secondary source analysis, this study assessed some of the most damaging legacies of the San Sebastian mine in eastern El Salvador, compared the country’s mine closure legislation against world’s best practice standards and provided strategies for awareness, prevention and remediation. The most damaging legacy to the environment is that of Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) contamination of the local river. The impact of AMD is felt well beyond the mining district and the costs of prevention and remediation were found to be significant. Apart from environmental legacies, the mine also left a number of socio-economic legacies including: limited access to non-polluted water that results in San Sebastian residents devoting a high proportion of their income in obtaining water, lost opportunities due to the cessation of mining, uncertain land tenure situation and increasing growth of ASGM activities that exacerbate already existing environmental pollution due to use of mercury. The study also found that the state’s capacity to ensure compliance with the law is very weak and that in many important respects the country’s current legal framework does not meet world’s best practice when it comes to mine closure requirements. The findings are important because they demonstrate that the lack of closure planning can lead to private operators socializing the costs of pollution. The study also shows that the lack of state capacity may result in extractive projects becoming socio-economic liabilities in the long term.