Heavy Rains in Chile Cause Tailings Dam Rupture, Contaminating Water Supplies and Threatening Livelihoods

As heavy rains continue to pummel Chile, cutting off areas of the country and damaging thousands of homes, one community is dealing with a tailings dam rupture that has sent heavy metals throughout the community and nearby water supplies.

A tailings dam belonging to copper miner Las Cenizas in central Chile began overflowing overnight on June 13 due to heavy rains, putting nearby water sources, including the La Ligua River, at risk of "adverse effects," Chile's environmental SMA agency said in a statement.

"Sediment from the tailing was dragged through creeks and fell on some houses. This has been very worrying for the community," said Victor Donoso, the mayor of Cabildo, on Saturday. "Nobody likes living with a tailing dam right behind them."

Chile is the world's largest copper producer, and Cabildo is an agricultural area known for producing avocados. Many residents are worried about the impact the overflow will have on their livelihoods.

Citizens expressed their worries in meetings with government officials and representatives from the mining company, which is working to rebuild the containment wall that overflowed last week.

"I recognize there were some errors in our management," Andres Monarde, operations manager for Las Cenizas, told residents on Saturday. "But let's take a step forward together."

Donoso said a formal complaint has been sent to the environmental regulator to assess the impact the overflow has had on agriculture, houses, and water sources.

"The little I used to water my fruit trees, fill the pond, the avocados, the tailing burst, and it got contaminated," said Jose Olmos, a local farmer. "The tailing brings heavy metals, like lead, arsenic, and a lot of metals. This is irreversible, I won't be able to use it anymore.

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