ENVIRONMENTALISTS in the northwestern town of Lefka are preparing legal action against an American-based mining company, which they say is responsible for massive industrial pollution in the area.
The American company, the Cyprus Mines Corporation (CMC), ran a vast copper mining operation in the northwest of the island throughout much of the 20th century. In 1974, however, the company closed operations and left after Turkey invaded the northern third of the island, leaving hundreds of acres of land under vast mounds of highly toxic waste.
“They used the invasion as an excuse to leave without rehabilitating the area,” head of the Lefka Environmental and Promotional Association (LCTD) Enver Bildir told the Sunday Mail, adding that CMC had “contractual responsibilities” that should force it to return to the island and clear up the enormous amount of toxic waste still present in the Lefka region.
Research has shown that levels of carcinogenic heavy metals in soil, drinking water, sea water and air in the area are unusually high, along with those of sulphuric acid and arsenic.
Bildir believes the presence of these chemicals has had, and is continuing to have, serious negative effects on the health of the local population – including higher than normal rates of cancer. Last week the situation was worsened when thousands of tonnes of toxic waste spilled into the sea after protection barriers gave way during last week’s torrential rains.
The LCTD says it is still undecided on whether to take their case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), or to courts in the US.
One thing is decided, however, and that is that Lefka’s case will be taken on by the UK-based law firm that represented the Orams – a British couple who are fighting to retain ownership of a Greek Cypriot property they bought from a Turkish Cypriot in Lapithos.
The firm claimed success last summer in preventing legal action being taken by a British High Court that could have led to the seizure the Orams’ property in the UK. The legal team will be joined in partnership by two lawyers from Turkey and one from north Cyprus.
Bildir believes the town has a strong case against CMC, which in 1979 was bought out by the Amoco Corporation and subsequently acquired by Phelps Dodge in 1999.
Along with the legal action, the LCTD say it is instigating a health audit of the area to see whether cancer rates, and other illness possibly caused by the waste, are higher than average.
“From what we can see, leukaemia, lung and stomach cancer rates are very high here,” Bildir said yesterday. “But no research has ever been done on this,” he added.
Asked whether his association had been in touch with the disused mine’s owners, Bildir said, “We were in touch, but the company does not accept responsibility. They told us we should ask Turkey if we want anything done.”
Bildir was also critical of the EU’s lack of action, and in particular its lack of co-ordination with local groups in carrying out research into the waste.
“In 2001, we started working with the EU, but since then all lines of communication have broken down,” he said. “We hear now that research is being carried out on a contractual basis with the EU, but we don’t even know who is carrying it out. I don’t think it is right that decisions are being made about the area without any reference to the local population,” he added.
Bildir did, however, concede that looting of the building materials and machinery from the mine could weaken the association’s case against CMC’s owners, but insisted his only concern was that the waste ceased being a health hazard for people in the area.
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