Mining and the Right to Water in Porgera, Papua New Guinea
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Red Water: Mining and the Right to Water in Porgera, Papua New Guinea (February 2019) About the Authors The Columbia Law School Human Rights Clinic works to advance human rights around the world, and to train the next generation of strategic advocates for social justice. The clinic works in partnership with civil society organizations and communities to carry out human rights investigations, legal and policy analysis, litigation, report-writing, and advocacy. The Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict and Complexity (AC4) at Columbia University’s Earth Institute works to bring sustainable solutions to the issues of violent conflict, peace, and sustainable resource management. The Earth Institute, founded in 1995, leverages the expertise of its research centers, scientists, postdoctoral fellows, and staff at Columbia University to generate solutions for sustainable development. This unique institute brings together the intellectual, practical and theoretical resources needed to address some of the world’s most difficult problems including environmental sustainability, climate change and poverty. iii Acknowledgements This report is part of an ongoing human rights investigation and advocacy project regarding the impacts of gold mining operations in Porgera, Papua New Guinea. Since 2006, researchers from the human rights clinics of Harvard Law School, New York University School of Law, and Columbia Law School have investigated allegations of human rights violations at the site of the Porgera Joint Venture mine. Prior work has addressed allegations of widespread abuses by security forces at the mine – including arbitrary detentions, physical assaults, sexual violence, and killings – in violation of the rights of local residents. This report, jointly prepared by the Columbia Law School Human Rights Clinic and the Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict and Complexity (AC4) of Columbia University’s Earth Institute, analyzes the impacts of the mine on the environment and communities immediately surrounding the mine, with a particular focus on local water sources, the right to water, and the extent to which the government of Papua New Guinea and the mining companies have met their international human rights obligations and responsibilities. The Human Rights Clinic and AC4 would like to express their profound gratitude to the many people in Porgera whose experiences and demands for justice are the foundation for this report. The Clinic and AC4 would also like to thank the interpreters who provided their invaluable expertise in ensuring the careful relay of Porgerans’ important narratives. The Clinic and AC4 would also like to acknowledge and express gratitude for the external reviewers who provided invaluable feedback on drafts of this report. This report’s lead authors are Sarah Knuckey, Lieff Cabraser Associate Clinical Professor of Law, Director of the Human Rights Clinic and Faculty Co-Director of the Human Rights Institute, Columbia Law School; Benjamin Hoffman, Deputy Director, Columbia Law School Human Rights Clinic; Joshua Fisher, Director of the Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict, and Complexity (AC4) at the Earth Institute, Columbia University; and Tess Russo, Adjunct Associate Research Scientist, Columbia Water Center at the Earth Institute, Columbia University and formerly RL Slingerland Early Career Professor of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, Department of Geosciences. Contributing Authors and Research Team Beth Hoagland, Ph. D. ’18, Pennsylvania State University Alison Borochoff-Porte, J.D. ’15, Columbia Law School Human Rights Clinic Stephanie Persson, J.D. ’15, Columbia Law School Human Rights Clinic Holly Stubbs, J.D. ’15, Columbia Law School Human Rights Clinic Genevieve Taylor, LLM ’15, Columbia Law School Human Rights Clinic Whitney Hood, J.D. ’16, Columbia Law School Human Rights Clinic Gulika Reddy, LLM ’16, Columbia Law School Human Rights Clinic Lizzie O’Shea, LLM ’16, Columbia Law School Human Rights Clinic Candy Ofime, J.D. ’17, Columbia Law School Human Rights Clinic Su Anne Lee, LLM ’17, Columbia Law School Human Rights Clinic Doreen Ivy Bentum, J.D. ’18, Columbia Law School Human Rights Clinic Rachel LaFortune, J.D. ’18, Columbia Law School Human Rights Clinic iv Oyinkan Muraina, J.D. ’19, Columbia Law School Human Rights Clinic Kamilah Moore, J.D. ’19, Columbia Law School Human Rights Clinic Nia Morgan, J.D. ’19, Columbia Law School Human Rights Clinic Lara Wallis, LLM ’19, Columbia Law School Human Rights Clinic Laura O’Brien, LLM ’19, Columbia Law School Human Rights Clinic Tessa Baizer, J.D. ’20, Columbia Law School Human Rights Clinic Additional Acknowledgements The authors would additionally like to acknowledge and thank the following individuals who reviewed and commented upon earlier drafts of this report: Fola Adeleke, Clinical Advocacy Fellow, Harvard Law School International Human Rights Clinic Abigail Greg, MSc., Graduate Research Assistant, The Earth Institute Amanda Klasing, Senior Researcher, Women’s Rights Division, Human Rights Watch Margaret Satterthwaite, Faculty Director and Professor of Clinical Law, Center for Human Rights & Global Justice Inga Winkler, Lecturer in Human Rights, Institute for the Study of Human Rights, Columbia University The authors would also like to acknowledge the research and cite-checking assistance of the following individuals: Anna Clare Pogson, LLM ’16, Columbia Law School Jacob Bogart J.D. ‘18, Columbia Law School Laura Pond, J.D. ’18, Columbia Law School Sami Cleland, J.D. ’19, Columbia Law School Mari Zaldivar, J.D. ’19, Columbia Law School Daniel Greenfeld designed the cover. Emily McDuff designed and formatted the body of the report. This report does not represent the institutional views of Columbia Law School or Columbia University. Funding This project was funded by (a) Columbia Law School’s Human Rights Clinic, and (b) a Cross- Cutting Initiative grant from Columbia University’s Earth Institute from December 2013- December 2016. v Table of Contents About the Authors .............................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ iv Executive Summary .............................................................................................................. 1 Recommendations ............................................................................................................. 10 Methodology ...................................................................................................................... 19 Chapter I: Background: Water, Extractive Industries in Papua New Guinea, and Industrial Mining in Porgera ............................................................................................................... 28 Chapter II: Life Near a Mine: Social and Environmental Concerns .................................. 36 Chapter III: Legal Framework: The Right to Water and Interrelated Rights ..................... 44 Chapter IV: Water in Porgera: Findings from an Interdisciplinary Study .......................... 54 Part A: Analysis Of Water Sources In Porgera ....................................................... 56 Part B: Access To Information And Participation................................................... 91 Chapter V: Legal Analysis of the Realization of the Right to Water in Porgera ............... 110 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 118 Annex I ........................................................................................................................... 120 Annex II ........................................................................................................................... 127 Endnotes .......................................................................................................................... 138 vi EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Porgera gold mine in PNG . is a world-class gold mine project, with an annual gold production of 15 tonnes.1 – Zijin Mining Group, co-owner of Porgera Mine, 2015 With these assets, Barrick will have access to over 5,300 square kilometers of contiguous ground for exploration in one of the world’s most highly endowed, under-explored gold and copper regions, which is also home to the world-class Porgera mine. 2 – Barrick Gold Corporation, co-owner of Porgera Mine, 2007 People say it is a world-class mine, but the environment tells a different story. – Resident of Yarik Village, Porgera, January 5, 2015 Many indigenous residents of Porgera, Papua New Guinea express deep fear that their lands, water sources, and very bodies are being “poisoned” by the gold mine operating at the heart of their traditional lands. Upon entering the Porgera Valley, it is immediately apparent that industrial gold mining has brought profound physical changes to the landscape. The mine’s open pit has replaced an entire mountain. Fences topped with razor wire crisscross the land. Giant piles of waste rock create new, craggy terrain, across which the rumbling of trucks, helicopters, and dynamite blasts echo. An enormous “red river” of warm tailings waste flows out from the mine, charting a course through the valley until it meets with river systems downstream. A constant plume of white vapor wafts from a mill where gold is separated from rock, rising above local villages. Interspersed in this