{"id":1587819,"date":"2024-04-03T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-03T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/?p=464281"},"modified":"2024-04-03T09:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-04-03T09:00:00","slug":"rio-tintos-madagascar-mine-promised-prosperity-it-tainted-a-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2024\/04\/03\/rio-tintos-madagascar-mine-promised-prosperity-it-tainted-a-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Rio Tinto\u2019s Madagascar Mine Promised Prosperity. It Tainted a Community."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

B<\/span>loated and distorted<\/span> carcasses shimmered on the surface of Lake Ambavarano in southeastern Madagascar. Forty-year-old fisherman Olivier Randimbisoa lost count as they floated by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know what it\u2019s like to see a dead fish that\u2019s been speared,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019d never seen anything like this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A series of cyclones and storms had battered the region in early 2022, and in the days afterward, the air was still and calm. As Randimbisoa paddled around in his dugout canoe, he recognized the different species and called them by their local names: fiambazaha, saroa, vily, and malemiloha. Overnight, the fish he made his living from, the fish his wife and children ate, the fish that supported the entire lakeside community, were nearly gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was scary, because we have been eating fish from this lake for so long. We have fed our families, and now it\u2019s polluted,\u201d said Randimbisoa. \u201cWe have told our families not to go to the lake.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Randimbisoa has a theory about what killed the fish. \u201cIt\u2019s dirty water from the factory of QMM,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lake Ambavarano, where Randimbisoa works, is connected to two other lakes \u2014 Besaroy and Lanirano \u2014 through a series of narrow waterways. The lakes are adjacent to QIT Madagascar Minerals<\/a>, or QMM: a mine in Madagascar that\u2019s 80 percent owned by the Anglo-Australian mining and metals behemoth Rio Tinto<\/a>, and 20 percent by the government of Madagascar. The mine extracts ilmenite, a major source of titanium dioxide, which is mainly used as a white pigment in products like paints, plastics, and paper. QMM also produces monazite<\/a>, a mineral that contains highly sought-after rare-earth elements used to produce the magnets in electric vehicles and wind turbines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the fish deaths, the government of Madagascar\u2019s environmental regulator and Rio Tinto conducted water sampling work. Citing such testing, Rio Tinto says there is no proof that its mining killed the fish. Water sample analysis revealed \u201cno conclusive link between our mine activities and the observed dead fish by community members,\u201d a company spokesperson wrote in an email to The Intercept. Those results have not been made available to the public, despite requests by civil society groups and The Intercept.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, more than 15 years after QMM became operational, Rio Tinto is facing a likely lawsuit in an English court brought by U.K.-based law firm Leigh Day on behalf of residents of villages near the QMM mine. In a letter of claim, a document that is an early step in a lawsuit in the U.K., the villagers accuse Rio Tinto of contaminating the waterways and lakes that they use for domestic purposes with elevated and harmful levels of uranium and lead, which pose a serious risk to human health. Leigh Day commissioned blood lead level testing in the area around the mine as part of its research into the claim. According to the letter of claim, which was sent on Tuesday, the testing shows that 58 people living around the mine have elevated levels of lead, and that the majority of cases exceed the threshold at which the World Health Organization recommends clinical and environmental interventions, 5 micrograms per deciliter. The claim alleges that the most likely cause of the elevated levels is a result of QMM\u2019s mine processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey and other local families are being forced to consume water which is contaminated with harmful heavy metals.\u201d<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhilst Rio Tinto extracts large profits from its mining operations in Madagascar, our clients\u2019 case is that they and other local families are being forced to consume water which is contaminated with harmful heavy metals. In bringing this case, our clients are seeking accountability and justice for the damage that has been caused to their local environment and their health,\u201d Paul Dowling, Leigh Day\u2019s lead partner on the case, told The Intercept.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leigh Day\u2019s blood lead level testing results are a significant development that may for the first time quantify the detrimental health impacts their clients allege are posed by QMM. Surface water pollution and lead poisoning are both global problems, and the case will be watched closely not just by Rio Tinto shareholders, but by global environmental justice advocates in other nations where villagers also accuse industrial giants of polluting their waterways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have received the letter from Leigh Day,\u201d said the Rio Tinto spokesperson, who declined further comment on the allegations. The spokesperson pointed to a published report that states that the company\u2019s recent water analysis had not detected metals, including uranium and lead, that had previously been identified as potential concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Madagascar\u2019s environmental regulator, the National Office for the Environment, or ONE, says it has periodically monitored QMM\u2019s activities over the last decade and has tested the water following past complaints about contamination. \u201cIn the face of these accusations, ONE requested several expert analyses \u2026 the results of which indicated no contamination of surface waters nor mining sites,\u201d Hery Rajaomanana, ONE\u2019s director of environmental integration and sustainable development, told The Intercept in March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n \"General\n
\n General view of the QIT Madagascar Minerals mine in Fort Dauphin, Madagascar, on July 10, 2023.<\/span>\n Photo: Patrick Meinhardt for The Intercept<\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Rio Tinto, which has over 52,000 employees and saw net earnings of $12.4 billion in 2022, has a troubled track record in Madagascar. Local residents, civil society groups, and media outlets have accused the company of damaging<\/a> the endangered forest, threatening rare endemic species, forcing<\/a> villagers off their land without proper compensation, destroying fishers’ livelihoods, and failing to honor its promises to employ local people. Communities have been protesting the mine almost since its inception. Last year, skirmishes broke out in June and lasted more than a week as residents blocked road access to the mine. The government called in<\/a> the police and army to assert control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cQMM operates in a highly sensitive area from a water and broader environmental perspective,\u201d wrote the Rio Tinto spokesperson who declined to attach a name to the statements from the company. \u201cWe are committed to working to address any specific issues that community members raise, and to engaging in constructive dialogue on how we can mitigate impacts of our operations while generating tangible and sustainable benefits for our host communities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n\n\n\n