Around 1,600 inhabitants of the municipality of Atrato demand reparation for the damage caused by gold mining in their municipality.
For years, without respite, justice, the scientific community and Chocoan populations have urgently requested the Colombian State to put a stop to the serious environmental crisis suffered by the Atrato River due to the disorderly irregular gold mining that takes place in this vital tributary that crosses the Chocó.
The situation is such that not even a ruling issued by the Constitutional Court has been able to stop the illegal exploitation that criminal groups have encouraged against this river.
As a strategy, 1,600 inhabitants of the municipality face each other in court before various state agencies. In their lawsuit, they ask that the State compensate them financially for the serious damage caused by what they describe as the “poisoning of the river.”
The complaint filed by the community establishes that since 2006, irregular mining exploitation began in the municipality in the Atrato River basin, as well as in other secondary basins.
These polluting actions, the plaintiffs say, have caused serious erosion that can generate landslides and contamination of water and fish by mercury. As an example, in 2008 the Atrato River Development Plan warned that this irregular mining caused the loss of its forests.
If the lawsuit is won, the State would have to pay close to $220,000 million to the atrateños who are involved in the judicial action.
This river has been contaminated in recent years by miners who use this mercury as a way to separate gold from sediments. In its desire to raise funds, it ended up affecting the health of dozens of communities that subsist around the Atrato River, which serves as both a commercial and transportation route, as well as a provider of water and food.
This situation has also contaminated the Amazon River and others in Bajo Cauca, and has positioned Colombia as the third country that releases the most mercury in the world. According to the ranking of the World Health Organization (WHO), the country is only surpassed by China and Indonesia and, since 2016, Colombia has remained on this list, despite the fact that this chemical compound was banned in 2018 throughout the country.
Collective legal action
Furthermore, the plaintiffs warn, the situation becomes more serious, since the aqueduct service, which allows the community to obtain water for human consumption and the preparation of food and personal hygiene, is obtained from the Atrato River.
The residents showed that the levels of mercury in their blood were the highest. Furthermore, in 2022 a prestigious Dutch scientific affairs publisher revealed that fish species in the Atrato River had alarming levels of mercury.
In this way, this collective judicial action is analyzed by the Superior Court of Antioquia and it is expected that during this year it will determine, in the first instance, whether the State turned a blind eye to the environmental tragedy.
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