Gold, sand extraction impact Trinidad river

If combined gold panning, sand and gravel extraction at the Kinan-oan River in Trinidad town remains unchecked, water contamination could affect vast farmlands in the northern part of Bohol.

An interview with Bohol Environmental Management Office (Bemo) head Leonilo Lafuente  over dyRD “Inyong Alagad” bared that sand and gravel quarrying and gold panning activities alongside the Kinan-oan River has already turned the waterway turbid while liquid wastes from washery and crusher activities is endangering the source of farm irrigation to hectares of ricefields and farmlands in the towns of Trinidad, Ubay, Talibon and San Miguel.

While the BEMO is considering the economic benefits of the gold mining activities, albeit small-scale and involves more than a hundred individuals, it has issued a stoppage order to one major quarry operator and the individual gold miners in Barangay Banlasan.

Lafuente admitted farmers in the area have complained due to the pollution coming from wastewater generated by sand and gravel extraction and gold panning activities.

The sand and gravel extraction, owned by Trinidad Municipal Councilor Pablo Molos, has been required to secure an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) for its washery and set back at least 20-meters from the riverside and put up a catchment basin for its wastewater to be diverted away from the Kinan-oan.

Although, in a separate interview with “Inyong Alagad” with Kag. Molos, the municipal lawmaker said he is in the process of complying requirements for an ECC, he already possesses an ECC for his sand and gravel extraction, the site of which is in Barangay Kauswagan, just a few meters from his washery in Barangay Banlasan.

But while he is not yet in receipt of a cease and desist order from any government agency, operation of his sand and gravel extraction will continue, since he already agreed to build an impoundment area setting back his washery 50-meters from the river shoreline.

Molos claims the murky water in the river is no longer caused by his sand and gravel washery but by individual gold panners.

Lafuente assured that his office is now urging these gold panners, numbering about 10 families, to organize themselves into a cooperative and apply for a permit and an ECC so that they will also be guided on safety and environmental standards.

The BEMO is consulting the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) of the DENR regional office to study options that would not also affect the newfound livelihood of gold panners, who are mostly land tillers and farmhands that turn to the quest for gold in between planting and harvest seasons to support their families.

Based on estimates, an individual gold panner could earn an average of P1,000 in a week’s work as a gram of gold sells to local buyers at P1,500 per gram.