Huge waste pond of gold mine near Euphrates river 'poisoning region,' locals say

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Agricultural and livestock activities have stopped in the İliç district of Turkey's eastern province of Erzincan. Birds die and fall into the waste pond and the number of bees is rapidly decreasing, according to locals.

People living in the region talked to bianet about the pond they call "the second Chernobyl." Their social media posts about the waste pool were removed after complaints by the holding operating the mine, they said.

Villagers who did not want to want to be named said the following:

"We were shocked after seeing the pond"

"In 2019, we learned that the company had started activities without an EIA [environmental impact assessment] report in places that were, in fact, protected areas.

"In January 2022, we went to the cyanide pond and saw that it had been there not since 2018, the year the company said it started operations, but for much longer.

"We were shocked after seeing the pond. What we saw was a huge cyanide pond the size of 192 football fields and a depth of 1,280 meters and it was all crimson."

The pond, which is 350 meters away from the Euphrates river, the main water source of the region, is also on other clean water sources and active fault lines.

The villagers who went to the region to observe the destruction caused by the pond said an earthquake had occurred in Elazığ at that time.

"They put a waste pool in the middle of Eastern Anatolia, poisoning the surrounding cities and all of Turkey. This pool is adjacent to Sivas, Tunceli, and the Dark Canyon, a touristic and protected area."

Sulfuric acid and silica

"We, the villagers, took action to stop the capacity increase of the gold mine, and then we saw that the water in the cyanide pool had decreased by almost two-thirds.

"The lawsuit filed by the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB) to stop the capacity increase also had an influence.

"But where did this water go? To the atmosphere with the polarization system. They sprayed that poisonous water into the atmosphere. There is not only cyanide in this pool. We learned that they poured sulfuric acid and silica on the raw material called leaching in order to decompose the gold quickly."

Thanks to the royalty contract, the company outsources its main work to contractors, and there were no sanctions for the damage the company inflicted on living things, said the villagers.

"Animals are dying"

When people affected by cyanide die, no one can even touch them. Lime is poured on their graves. Now we see an open cyanide pool in the middle of İliç. Birds die when flying over the pool and fall into it.

"Agriculture and livestock activities in the region have stopped. The number of bees is rapidly decreasing. The production of Erzincan cheese is almost at a standstill because livestock activities cannot be carried out. What is expected to stop these activities?"

(TY/VK)