Glencore remains in denial about pollution and health impacts in Peru

This blog is by Thomas Niederberger and Paul Maquet of CooperAcción; a member of the Fair Finance Peru coalition

During the Glencore Annual General Meeting for shareholders on May 29 in Switzerland, the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Kalidas Madhavpeddi, responded to a question about the 2023 reports of the Environmental Evaluation and Supervision Agency (OEFA), which proved that the cause of the heavy metal contamination in Espinar is due to the operations of Glencore's Tintaya-Antapaccay copper mine. However, his response was evasive and failed to acknowledge the company's responsibility.

“Antapaccay mine does not consume much water as it uses mostly recycled water and in non-rainy season, uses sumps to extract water. The nearby towns mostly use spring water, so there is no relationship between the water in the community and the mine,” Madhavpeddi said. “Air quality is constantly monitored and reported to the government. And we feel we do everything that quality of air, water is preserved”.

It is worrying that Glencore continues to deny the evidence found by OEFA, and as a result, refuses to take the necessary measures to protect the population and the environment from the impacts of the contamination, as well as to remediate and repair the damages. Thousands of people in the region of the mine suffer from toxic metals contamination in their blood, with associated health impacts.

Glencore says Coroccohuayco expansion is in prefeasibility stage

During the Glencore Annual General Meeting, the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Kalidas Madhavpeddi, confirmed that the Antapaccay - Coroccohuayco mine expansion project, in the province of Espinar, Cusco, Peru, is still in the pre-feasibility stage.

“The Coroccohuayco project is in pre-feasibility stage and as we move that project forward, we will have a better sense of how economical it is and obviously we will have community consultations etc. at that time”, said Madhavpeddi, in response to a question by Ana Reyes Hurt of Peru Support Group.

Madhavpeddi's statement comes as a surprise, given that Glencore has obtained approval of a MEIA (Modification of Environmental Impact Study) for the project as early as 2019 and is since then in negotiations with the communities of Pacopata, Huini Coroccohuayco and Huano Huano for the purchase of their lands. The company is also involved in a prior consultation process on the project.

"It appears that the company is looking to implement a larger project, but without clarity about the size and impacts of the expansion, there should be no land acquisition negotiations or consultation of the population," says Ana Leyva, lawyer at CooperAcción. "If the size of the project changes, the MEIA should be annulled to produce a new one, in accordance with the new design".

See the report by CooperAcción and Oxfam: Glencore en el Perú: El caso de Antapaccay

In English: Glencore in Peru: The Antapaccay case.