Word: talawaan
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...grams a ton. Their primitive processing techniques require large quantities of mercury to extract the precious metal. Los Angeles-based environmental consultancy Dames and Moore estimates that between 100 and 200 tons of mercury have already seeped into the soil and water around the main mining site at Talawaan. Many tons more are dumped each month...
...prospects of a government program to control the flood of mercury in Talawaan are almost zero. World Bank estimates put the cleanup costs at around $1 billion, a laughable figure in near-bankrupt Indonesia. And that assumes environment officials could get into the site. Victor Malonda, who heads the district mining office, recounts how he took 120 policemen and soldiers to the site a year ago to try to halt the mining. "We were chased away," he says despairingly. "They had samurai swords. We had to run for our lives...