Khongor Village, Mongolia

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Posted: Nov 17 07

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Agua, La libertad de opinión y de expresión, Medio ambiente

In February 2007 a spillage of waste containing Mercury and Sodium Cyanide happened in Khongor (Darkhan Uul Province) Mongolia. The waste was from an informal gold washing operation in a nearby factory owned by the Govenor of Khongor, and the chemicals - illegal in Mongolia - were smuggled from China. Villagers say they are unsure how long these chemicals have been used to process gold near their village, they only became aware of the situation in February 2007 because of the spillage.

A report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs states that "The Mongolian Government did not request international assistance to respond to this emergency". A fact finding mission then took place in the summer of 2007 revealing large quantities of mercury and cyanides in the soil and water of the village and even in a school classroom. The report states that Mongolia is ill-equipped for analysing mercury and cyanide in biomaterials - "It is due to lack of laboratory capacity and lack of training and experience of laboratory staff".

Since the publication of this report, little has been done to ensure that the villagers are healthy and not exposed to risk. The new water supply only supplies water to 20% of the population, everyone else is still drinking the water that showed high traces of Mercury and Sodium Cyanide in the UN report. There is a growing number of people experiencing health problems and more and more animals are dying unusual deaths. Munkhbat, a local pig farmer has lost 47 pigs so far this year, 5 in the last week, he displayed the lungs of the dead pigs on a plastic sheet and explained the the bluey green colour is a sign of mercury poisoning. Many cows are also falling sick, some are going blind, and some have given birth to dead calves with no fur and deformed limbs. The local vet has denied that poisoning is the cause of death but the local villagers are accusing him of being paid to keep quiet.

A young boy, 13 years old, showed extremely itchy, blue sores on his face and hands and also told that he has trouble digesting his food. His father complained that whenever they went to the state doctor, they were told he simply has mange and his previous records were taken from him. New documents are then created effectively deleting his medical history. His father and mother are also experiencing problems digesting their food and both have bad headaches. "I want to move" he says, a common desire amongst the residents.
A young girl, 24 - who wishes to remain unnamed - suffered a miscarriage in July this year. She is again pregnant and has received hassle from the authorities to not speak about her pregnancy. She is extremely terrified and worried it will happen again. Last week 6 women had a miscarriage in Khongor, making the total 9 since October. A memorial ceremony was held in Sukhbatar Square, Ulaanbataar on Sat 11th November for the 9 lives lost.

It is extremely hard for the villagers to begin any kind of campaign by themselves so small demonstrations have been taking place on the main highway that leads to Darkhan city with help from NGO's in Ulaanbataar. It is essential however that the extent of the problem is recognised by the authorities before any real progress can be made.

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