Is
There Anybody Out There?
Our investigation into Lefke and its sorry decline at the hands of corporate polluters reaches its crescendo this month. Two months ago, we brought you the background to this terrifying disaster; in October, we focused on the daily reality for the people of the region, in particular, on the devastation wreaked upon the social and economic lives and health of the region’s people. In this, our last report, we will take a look at recent activities in the area; what is being done - or not, as the case may be - in order to halt the flow of this environmental disaster. We will scrutinise actions previously taken in order to clean up and improve the site by various official, and some rather less official, organisations.
However,
before getting on, let us refresh your memories: Lefke and its surrounding areas
have always been of vital economic importance to Cyprus, being, as they are,
main agricultural centres and, therefore, dependent upon the land for their
continued success. They are also areas whose original ‘purpose’ was severely
compromised by the arrival, some eighty or so years ago, of one Cyprus Mining
Corporation, a company which gave as much to the area and its people with one
hand as it took with the other. Fantastic economic growth and seemingly
progressive working practices weigh up uneasily against insidious, long-term
environmental pollution and widespread health damage. Eager and able to
capitalise on Cyprus’ untapped natural resources, the CMC went to work and
transformed the economy of the region, turning it from a centre of fruit export
into a major exporter of copper and gold. With the advent of war in the area in
1974, the dream came to an abrupt halt and the trouble began. Claiming that they
were forcibly ejected from the island, the CMC left all as it stood and has
never returned to northern Cyprus. The fact that they refuse point blank to
accept any form of responsibility whatsoever for environmental damage caused
since their departure and yet still claim compensation rights for earnings lost
and equipment dismantled and sold by locals is, of course, neither here nor
there. The fact that they also took over a year to actually leave is, of course,
a case of boorishly splitting hairs….
The most disputed issue is that of the actual amount of waste left behind by the CMC. An appreciation of certain data may first be necessary to fully understand the scale of any potential ‘clean up’ operation. According to Lefke Environmental Society and researchers from the Aegean University, there could be around 8 or 10 million tonnes of waste within the region needing immediate attention. However, according to ‘DOBA Ltd.’, a privately run enterprise, recently given the opportunity, without any form of public tender, to take over the affected area, the amount of the waste to be cleaned up is just 2.5 or 3 million tonnes. But there is one more report, and its findings will make you shiver. Issued on 21st of March, 2001, and prepared by the Netherlands Institute of Applied Geosciences, a group who carried out a three-year study in the southern Cypriot part of the region, the report refers to 200 million tonnes of waste as a result of the mining activities in the region. The report does not state if this amount of waste is only that on the southern side, or whether it includes the affected area in the north. The report states that the studies were carried out for the ‘Cyprus Government’ and so we can reasonably come to the conclusion that these figures are only for the south. Naturally, this leads to suspicions as to the true amount of waste in the northern mining area, which could be far above the 10 million tonnes presumed.
In previous months, we gave detailed information on how the waste has polluted, and continues to pollute, the soil, air, sea, and groundwater, and on the Gemikonaðý reservoir, the large purpose-built dam constructed from flooding of the mine sites, which provides the region with its agricultural irrigation water.
In abandoned mining areas, barrels, containing toxically hazardous chemicals, most of them cracked and leaking, allow their chemical contents to spill out and be distributed naturally all over the area. According to the TRNC’s Council of Ministers, an estimated 250 barrels exist, and contain potassium Amyl Xanthate. And yet, another report, commissioned by UNOPS (The United Nations Office for Project Services – “manages project resources to help developing countries and countries in transition in their quest for peace, social stability, economic growth and sustainable development”) begs to differ. Conducted by Dr. Harvey A. Cohen, a tutor at Lefke University, the report refers to over 200 barrels needing immediate attention.
There was also a detailed presentation on the chemicals contained within these barrels: there are approximately 30,000 tonnes of sodium cyanide now at the Gemikonaðý site. This chemical was used between 1932 and 1942, while gold mining was being carried out - no one knows what happened to the 150 barrels of cyanide stock left behind in 1974. It is known that cyanide, when in contact with acids, produces a highly poisonous gas. The potential danger of this waste, located on a site very close to settlement areas (approximately 300 meters) is crystal clear.
Sulphuric acid, sodium sulphide - used by the CMC before 1974 at the copper flotation unit- potassium ethyl xanthate and sodium ethyl xanthate. The list goes on and reads like a mad professor’s dream. A report by the Aegean University and Environment Centre states clearly in its conclusion that all xanthates are carcinogenic substances and entering the sites without precautions should be avoided. On the other hand, according to the American National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS) and National Occupational Health Safety Commission’s reports on xanthates, these chemicals are considered as ‘hazardous’. Regardless of linguistic classification, certain facts are irrevocable: these substances easily decompose in soil, water and in air. Direct exposure to, and inhalation of, xanthates may cause eye irritation and breathing difficulty. In addition, prolonged exposure to sodium xanthates can also cause miscarriage, infertility, and abnormal births. Just step outside and take a deep breath…
Press releases concerning the CMC ‘situation’ don’t only grab the attention of those that live in the area, but also of everyone concerned with the issue in some way. The long-time-ignored issue made a welcome return to the spotlight with the breaking news of ‘The waste ponds are bursting’ (Kýbrýs). They were bursting all right, but this wasn’t a new situation at all. Spills, collapses, bursts – all these disastrous events started years ago, and yet, suddenly, the news concerning Lefke was flowing in a certain direction. Articles, published in April this year, reiterated the importance of a full appreciation of the severity of the situation, and then in May, news concerning cracks and bursts of waste storage facilities started coming in quick succession. Rector of Near East University, Hüseyin Gökçekuþ, was reported to have said that publications claiming that the CMC waste site could be cleared with $50 million were ‘fantasies’. The main theme of the news was that of the magnitude of the potential dangers of leaving the site unattended. Then all of a sudden, at the beginning of June, these disaster stories u-turned into stories of hope. A knight in shining armour had arrived on the scene. Suddenly. Out of nowhere. Apparently, a company had issued a firm desire to clean up the waste and invest in the region. Officials in turn issued their own statements of support, confirming how ‘important’ and ‘serious’ this attempt was. The saviour of the day was a business called DOBA Ltd. It was going to build a free port in the region (similar to the one in Famagusta, the bid for which it recently won), and planned to start its activities by cleaning up the site. More positive news stories followed one after another. News published in August stated that the ‘first stage’ of the clean up operation was being undertaken: drainage channels with a questionable purpose, costing only 3 billion TL (approximately GBP 1,250). It seems almost churlish to mention that, while undertaking part of the first operation, to maintain and rectify a burst waste pond, a discharge pipe was seriously damaged, and thousands of tons of waste within the pond were released into Lefke stream. Nothing was mentioned in the press.
Now let us take a look at more recent events. It seems as though everything is in hand. DOBA Ltd. are looking to bring peace and prosperity back to the region as a free zone while the UNDP section of the UN prepares reports on imminent ‘improvement’ projects for the Lefke area. Suddenly, everything seems so simple. It is almost as if the reports of old have vanished in a haze of pink positivity. What about the reports warning people not to go near the site, let alone enter it; the reports stating that growing vegetables and feeding animals at the region was relative to suicide; that any clean up would require hundreds of millions of dollars? The international organisations are also starting to ‘handle’ the problems. What more can we ask for? The official message that ‘everything is okay’ continues. And yet many are unconvinced.
Let us take a
look at the recent report prepared by UNOPS. Prepared by a real master of
diplomacy, it promises that more analyses will be carried out in the future, and
although water analyses seemed to be clean, they cannot be sure.
In an article published in Kýbrýs newspaper on 17th
October 2002, it is stated that the UNDP had already prepared a 300-page report
after studies carried out both in the south and the north, and that works will
be starting soon on the basis of this report. The report, while covering long
and short-term aims and precautions, also says that project will be prepared and
presented to both Turkish and Greek Cypriot groups. However, we have no
information on when it will be prepared, on its details and when it will start.
Yet, such diplomacy shoots itself in the foot in the statement given in response
to a request from the New Colonial to UNOPS.
Miran Rechter, Programme Manager of the UNDP/UNOPS Bi-Communal
Development Programme in Cyprus writes:
‘The
Programme is currently actively engaged in helping Greek Cypriots and Turkish
Cypriots to better define possible health and safety issues related to the area
and ways to deal with those issues, if and as necessary….current studies,
which are funded by the
people of the United States of America and the United Nations Development
Programme through the United Nations Office for Project Services, are
aimed at assessing health and safety concerns of the people living in the
Lefka-Xeros area.’
‘Define’ and ‘assess’….hmmm.
Also, why don’t any of the local environmental organisations know anything
about this ‘active engagement’? Is Phelps Dodge, the umbrella company now
‘responsible’ for the former Cyprus Mining Corporation, going to be
approached in any official capacity? Diplomacy is vital in a situation as
politically delicate as this, and yet it also leaves too many questions
unanswered and fails to inspire confidence.
In search of
something a little more concrete, we return to DOBA Ltd., the knight on a white
horse, the establishment who claims it will clean up Lefke. With no relevant
credentials, DOBA’s position and commitment are also ambiguous. The only DOBA
on the Internet of Turkish origin is a catering firm in England. However, DOBA,
in their press statements, maintain a worrying position. In spite of data
confirming experts’ estimates that the amount of waste in the north totals at
least 10 million tonnes, and that in the south exceeds 200 million tonnes, DOBA
adamantly speaks of a need to clean no more than 2.5 million tonnes of waste. If
this is their intention then, presumably, the rest will be left as it is. Yes, a
brand new opportunity will be created, a rare and valuable thing in this
country, strangled as it is by economical crisis: the opportunity of 1500 new
jobs. And yet, whom should we believe in? Which data is correct? Is something
amazing about to happen in the region, or is the whole thing another version of
the stories we have been told for years? It is certainly too early to reach any
definite conclusion. However, the data we have also shows that it is too early
to be too hopeful. The people of Lefke have heard many such claims and promises
over the years, and the result of these promises is there for all to see:
continuing pollution, spreading like gangrene, and the hard fact that half of
all deaths in the Lefke area are caused by cancer.
Communication between those concerned about the Lefke situation and official, international organisations is vital. It may not always be fruitful, but it forms a crucial link between those fighting for what they perceive to be justice and the outside world stage of international clout. While there remains a chance that someone out there might listen, locals will keep on writing. But this correspondence also makes it tragically apparent how politically sensitive this issue is. While the political future of northern Cyprus remains in a state of flux, international organisations remain naturally reluctant to dip a toe into the waters of the Lefke situation.
Lefke Environmental Society, fighting against the disaster despite almost embarrassingly limited economic resources, has had the loudest voice in the fight to undo the damage in Lefke. The society sent letters to Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations, and Richard Bandler, US Ambassador for Cyprus at that time, trying to grab their attention. The letter sent to the Secretary General of the UN gave details of the effects of the contamination, and also claimed that the American corporation responsible of the disaster, as well as the USA and Cypriot governments pretended not to see what was happening at the site. They also demanded the help of the UN. The letter sent to the US ambassador was more a letter of protest. It told in particular of their frustration at the ‘desertion’ of northern Cyprus by Cyprus Mining Corporation, and the subsequent silence of the US government. No response was ever given to either of these letters, no acknowledgement ever made. A cynic might have expected at least a showpiece answer, something akin to our response from UNOPS, perhaps.
What about the international environmental organisations? Those organisations whose members tie themselves onto massive ships in front of the world’s press, and play the ‘hero’ in the name of saving the environment. Despite countless correspondences stating the dimensions of the disaster, the only thing these organisations have ever done is pass the issue on to yet another environmental group, and keep to a strict code of silence.
As a last
resort – should it be the first? – the New Colonial approached Phelps
Dodge, a massive American mining conglomerate and ultimate owner of Cyprus Mines
Corporation. What kind of official statement – printable or otherwise –
could we get from their dedicated ‘media centre’? What about the details
freely given on their website, referring to a dedicated fund for environmental
repair? Nothing. Their 24 hour press line received many calls from us. They take
the issue so seriously that none were returned. With nothing but Lefke
Environmental Society’s last correspondence to guide us as to the official
position of Cyprus Amax (inheritor of the CMC), and Phelps Dodge, we sought
enlightenment in their answer. This response was sent by Michael Rounds,
Director of Communications of Cyprus Amax, on 1st August, 1997:
“We have received your letter of
July 18, 1997 but can find no record of your letter of April 9, 1997, which you
refer to in your July correspondence. It neither was nor received by Cyprus Amax
Minerals Company. You are welcome to forward another copy to us.
We appreciate your interest in the
environmental situation on the Island of Cyprus. We were approached on the same
issues last year by the mayor of Lefke. We are responding you with the same
position we communicated to him on July of 1996. We are aware that some
discussion of this issue has taken place locally in Turkey and in some of the
regional and environmental press. Our company enjoys excellent relationships and
a good reputation with the legitimate press in both the US and abroad, so you
need to balance that fact with your threat to “invite press from abroad”. As
a company, we do not respond to threats.
Cyprus Amax Minerals Company’s
position is as follows:
1)
The property you refer to in your letter was forcibly expropriated in 1974,
during the Turkish invasion by its rightful owner, Cyprus Mines Corporation.
2)
Further, we understand that ore matter was processed and sold from that
property. This ore was owned by Cyprus Mines Corporation, but no compensation
for its appropriation and sale ever was offered to or received by its rightful
owner. Additionally, the company never was compensated for the seizure and later
sale of facilities and equipment.
3)
Until its seizure in 1974, the property was operated under generally accepted
environmental standards. What happened after the expropriation is not Cyprus
Mines Corporation’s responsibility.
In
summary, we are informing you as we have informed others that the property was
expropriated more than 20 years ago. We completely reject your claim that Cyprus
Amax Minerals Company is in any way responsible for the site or for
environmental problems that may have occurred or existed since its confiscation.
You
must know that Cyprus Amax Minerals Company is an environmentally responsible
company with a performance record and many awards to support that contention.
Annually, the company spends large amounts of money on environmental matters at
its properties. We expect that those responsible for the exploration of this
property will take same proper environmental stance and responsibility address
the challenge they presented to the Island of Cyprus when they took the property
from the rightful owners. It is their responsibility to do so and the task of
responsible, legitimate government officials to ensure that they do.”
This letter puts great credence on legitimacy and responsibility. Whilst many might accede that Cyprus Amax cannot be held responsible for what has happened in Lefke since 1974, what about whilst the mining was actually being carried out? If large American tobacco companies can be rocked by a backlog of billions of dollars’ worth of claims by ‘innocent’ smokers with cancers, then what about individuals who have fallen ill and whose environment has been ravaged by a local business?
Whilst mining is naturally a dangerous business, it is faintly ridiculous for Cyprus Amax to preach too strongly about their care for the environment, responsible as they are for numbers of serious environmental disasters:
Cyprus Amax was forced to clean up the lead and cadmium pollution caused by their mining activities in Bartsville Oklahoma on 23rd December 1997. (Four months after the above letter was written.) The verdict, consisting of 27 pages, also included findings on research made on the people living in the region, stating that children living there had %13 elevated lead levels in their blood and that at least 1200 resident’s properties were also seriously polluted by these heavy metals.
The international news agency, AP, stated in a release on 23 June 1998, that the United States Supreme Court had upheld a ruling to force Cyprus Amax to clean up contamination at copper mining sites near Globe, Arizona. The overall cleanup costs were estimated to be $100 million. A water treatment facility would take two years to build, and treatment would take an additional 12 years to complete. If left unchecked, the pollution from past mining operations around Globe and Miami eventually would reach Pinal Creek, the Salt River and then Roosevelt Lake, a major water source for the city of Phoenix... Or how about Wyoming in 1999, where Cyprus Amax carried out mining activities. One morning, the people of the region woke up to see everywhere shrouded in orange nitrogen oxide clouds. Nitrogen oxide, when in contact with moisture, is transformed into nitric acid, which causes destruction of the lungs and death if inhaled. The fact that they didn’t reply to our requests for information and comment is unsurprising, really. They were probably all in court. But there is a town here, under our very noses, under the nose of the entire world, and its reality continues to evade legitimate recognition. How far will it have to go? What kind of outcome we will have? One that we expect or one that Lefke deserves?