Stephen P. Broker
A number of Internet news releases and websites are available describing the Los Frailes mine waste reservoir spill. Those sites which I found most useful are: (1) Environmental News Network (ENN), with articles published on April 30, 1998, October 21, 1998, January 7, 1999, and March 16, 1999; (2) World Wildlife Fund (WWF), particularly its articles of April 27, 1998, May 4, 1998, and June 1998; (3) CNN Interactive, using Reuters News Service (cnn.com), with news releases of April 25, 1998, April 26, 1998, May 16, 1998, and January 12, 1999; (4) a Dutch site with the Internet address antenna.nl; (5) Boliden Limited. The Boliden homepage provides an overview of this multinational mining company, established in Sweden and now based in Canada. Its subsidiary company, Boliden Apirsa, owns and operates the Los Frailes mine. A news release describes the waste reservoir spill from the company's point of view. Additional 1998 and 1999 news releases appearing in an Investor Relations section provide useful background information but appear not to be readily printable from the computer screen. CNN Interactive was first to communicate the toxic spill story. The World Wildlife Fund played a key role in raising national and international concern about the spill, calling for a quick response by the Spanish government, assigning culpability for the spill, and promoting long term ecological restoration of the Donana. Environmental News Network, which maintains a subscription environmental news service drawing on Reuters, Associated Press, and Knight-Ridder/Tribune, provides comprehensive news stories with links to related stories and related sites. The Dutch website antenna.nl provides the best technical discussion of the Los Frailes waste reservoir failure I have found.
Additional websites that can be used include the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), with a section discussing financial and legal ramifications of the spill, Greenpeace, with a list of international mining industry accidents involving waste reservoir dam failures, Lycos Environment News Service, describing the efforts of WWF to keep Los Frailes mine closed, and EnviroNews Service, "a project of the EnviroLink Network." An article by Gary Gallon, President of the Canadian Institute for Business and the Environment, available at sentex.net (see bibliography) is of interest. Undoubtedly, there are numerous additional references available on the Internet.
Summary of news releases: April 25, 1998: The waste reservoir or tailings dam dike of the Los Frailes zinc mine, (Aznalcollar, Andalucia, Spain) operated by Boliden Ltd of Canada, burst in the early morning hours of Saturday, April 25, 1998, releasing at least five million cubic meters of acidic, toxic heavy metals sludge into the Guadiamar River south of Sevilla. The spill threatens the ecology of Europe's largest nature reserve, Donana National Park. Donana lies 60 kilometers, or 37 miles, south of Los Frailes. A 50 meter section of the dike failed, apparently the result of shifting substrate. Makeshift retaining walls appear to be protecting Donana from the toxic waste water. At least 10,000 hectares of farmland have been covered by the spill. While no one was injured in the accident, residents were urged not to use their wells and to keep grazing animals away from the river. The spill advanced south at a rate of 1 kilometer per hour, and it posed the threat of entering the Donana National Park within a day and a half of the accident. Efforts to reroute the Guadiamar River through a man-made canal were intended to take the sludge into the Guadalquivir River outside the Park. The accident was quickly regarded as a major environmental disaster. Donana is identified as a globally significant ecosystem of dunes, marshes, and forest.
April 26: Successful diversion of the toxic sludge into the Guadalquivir River, which flows into the Gulf of Cadiz, appears to have prevented a major environmental disaster in Donana. Environment Minister Isabel Tocino viewed the damage by helicopter and declared that Donana has been saved. The toxic sludge deposited on farmland is identified as consisting of minerals of zinc, lead, copper, and silver. The concern was expressed that tidal waters would draw the contaminated Guadiamar waters into the Park, but the closing of flood gates between the river and the park prevented this from happening. The national government called for action to be taken against those responsible for the spill, as did environmental organizations. Boliden Ltd indicated that a recent inspection of the dam disclosed no apparent weaknesses prior to the spill. The company initiated dam repairs to prevent further leakage from the waste reservoir.
April 27: The Secretary General of World Wildlife Fund/ADENA, Juan Carlos del Olmo, asked for a meeting of the Patron Board of Donana National Park to assess the damage and to coordinate a response to the crisis. He also called for relief assistance from the national government. The spill began as a fast-flowing stream of acidic water, followed by a slow- moving stream of viscous, acidic mud loaded with hydrocarbons and heavy metals. The blackened waters of the Guadiamar River now extend for 40 kilometers from the accident site, spanning either side of the riverbed for 200 meters. While the National Park has not been invaded by the sludge, the Natural Park buffer zone has been affected extensively. A huge die off of fishes and aquatic invertebrates is noted. An important population of Purple Gallinules (a member of the rail family) is threatened. It is feared that the toxic substances will enter the food chain, as dead organisms are eaten by higher order consumers. WWF assigns blame for the spill to the Andalusian regional government and the Ministry of the Environment, and the international conservation organization states that a clear danger of a toxic spill had been recognized since 1995. WWF questions the effectiveness of efforts by the two Donana administrations (national park and natural park) to coordinate emergency activities. Del Olmo predicted that Donana will suffer long-term effects from the spill. The aquifer has been contaminated, and forthcoming rains will continue to redistribute toxic substances. The contaminated land must be cleared of toxic soils, and these soils must be dumped elsewhere. The company responsible for the spill must pay for damages and restoration. A call was made for a comprehensive recovery program for the entire Guadiamar river system, providing a green belt corridor for the long term protection of Donana.
May 4: The toxic spill was described as having occurred late in the evening of Friday, April 24. WWF called for the Spanish Army to join the emergency effort and for Spanish authorities to do a better job of alerting the populations of seven nearby towns to the dangers to human health. WWF questioned the ability of Boliden to pay for damages or environmental restoration, and contradicted the position of the Spanish government that everything is under control. The magnitude of the environmental disaster is considered unprecedented. WWF felt that Boliden was being treated with kid gloves. Government officials publicly dining on Gulf of Cadiz shrimp won't lessen the extent of the disaster. A call was made for permanent closure of the mine and alternative employment opportunities for the region's residents. NGOs (non-governmental organizations) must have a say in the decision-making about Donana during the crisis. May 16: Some experts now feel that environmental damage from the spill is limited, particularly within Donana National Park. Park spokesmen took a similar position. An opposing view is that the extent of damage to Donana will not be known for years. Boliden claimed no responsibility for the disaster, but it pledged to pay out millions of dollars to farmers for loss of crops. The national government also pledged millions, and some estimated a price tag of US$100 million for damages and cleanup. The hotel industry feared a falloff in tourism. Cleanup will take at least three months.
June 1998: The volume of toxic sludge spilled from the Los Frailes (Apirsa) waste lagoon was equivalent to 500 Exxon-Valdez oil tankers. Approximately 46,000 people were directly affected. Donana was identified as WWF's first conservation project, for WWF spearheaded a 1959 effort to save the Donana habitats from imminent development. WWF continued to call the spill something other than an accident, as it had been known for several years that the reservoir was leaking. All agricultural and fishing activity in the area has ceased. The breeding seasons of birds and fishes have been disrupted. The effects on the endangered Iberian lynx and the Spanish Imperial Eagle were of special concern. WWF foresaw a cleanup effort requiring at least three years. Toxic waste will be disposed of in an abandoned portion of the mine. WWF called for a legal inquiry and full accountability for the spill. It feared the occurrence of numerous spills of a similar type throughout Europe.
October 21: The amount of zinc spilled into the Guadiamar River in April, estimated to be 120,000 tons, nearly equaled the annual output of zinc from the mine. Agricultural crops are particularly sensitive to zinc poisoning. Thousands of fishes and shorebirds were killed as a result of the spill. A study of river bank sediments six miles downstream of the mine disclosed zinc contamination 100 times that of uncontaminated soils. Further downstream, zinc contamination was less than expected. Chemical precipitation of zinc was suspected of lessening the contamination.