Background
INTRODUCTION
Drilling for oil and mining can be extremely destructive. What damages the environment can also be dangerous to people—and what destroys natural habitat for wildlife presents challenges for healthy communities. Indigenous people, who cannot contemplate moving off their ancestral lands, have no choice but to live in hazardous environments.
Mining and processing ore produce wastes that pollute water supplies and poison people and animals. Ore smelters emit fumes—sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide—and toxic dusts that can devastate agriculture and increase the rates of serious diseases, such as cancer and birth defects. All mines also have a significant demand for water, which may be scarce in rural areas, particularly at high altitudes.
Oil exploration and drilling threaten environmentally fragile areas, such as the Amazon basin. Road construction into remote areas destroys wildlife habitat and increases traffic and migration. If oil is found, drilling produces waste waters and crude oil that are stored in special pits (if not injected back into the ground). If these pits are not lined, toxic material can leak into the water supply and pollute nearby rivers and lakes, killing fish and sickening livestock and people. Such toxic waste can also contaminate soil, limiting agricultural production. Oil wells generally burn off natural gas, polluting the air and making constant noise. The danger of inadvertent oil spills is ever present.