Displaying items by tag: Blasting

India: Protestors have halted mining operations at JSW Cement’s Khatkurbahal mine in Odisha, which serves the company’s Sundargarh cement plant. The New Indian Express newspaper has reported that the protestors accuse the company of mining and dumping overburden on neighbouring agricultural land, damaging properties with debris from blasts, drying up six wells and creating excessive dust pollution. The protestors also complained that the mine has failed to create new jobs for local people.

Philippines: According to local media, Cement plants using explosives to extract limestone in the mountains of eastern Bulacan poses a threat that might break the Angat Dam, a large hydroelectric facility that supplies electricity and water to the Manila metropolitan area.

"Years of massive quarrying of mineral deposits in the area had taken its toll. The removal of the mountains in the area is not only ugly, but also appears to be a disaster waiting to happen since the mining area is so close to the Angat dam," said Martin Francisco, chairman of the Sagip Sierra Madre Environmental Society Inc (SSMSI). He added that since Angat Dam lies along the West Valley fault line, the mining of limestone deposits in the area could weaken the structure of the dam and its foundation because cement plants are still using explosives in extracting marble and limestone.

In a report to Bulacan governor Wilhelmino M Sy-Alvarado, the SSMSI said that residents and a cultural minority group, the Dumagats, have complained about the vibrations and noise in the mountains caused by dynamite blasts. "The explosions are causing too much anxiety and could even scare the people out of their wits since the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology has once again confirmed that the West Valley Fault is active. This is another threat to a dam break," said Francisco. He added that several landslides were reported in 2014 and several small sink holes in the mountains have appeared.

Alvarado has formed a team to investigate the matter and has requested that the cement plants refrain from using explosives to extract limestone.