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Java rice farmers suffer crop failure as copper mine pollutes local irrigation

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PACITAN, Indonesia — Parno looked weary at he stared out over his rice field, occasionally shaking his head as he considered prospects for the coming harvest. “How can I not be angry?” the 69-year-old told Mongabay Indonesia at his field in Cokrokembang village. “It’s been 20 days and the plants are not growing.” Like many farmers here in this northern pocket of East Java’s Pacitan district, Parno has long suspected his rice plants were failing due to contamination of the community’s irrigation source. He blames pollution from a copper mine in the hills above his field operated by PT Gemilang Limpah Internusa (GLI). Rice fields in the area that use water from other sources seemed to be thriving. And the fields farther downstream were healthy enough. However, Parno’s rice plants appeared stunted, wilting under the sun with a sickly yellow tint. GLI’s copper mine is located in the upland in Kluwih village, around 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) northwest of Parno’s farm. Waste from the mine appears to have seeped into the Kedung Pinihan River, which runs through a valley passing Cokrokembang’s rice fields. The pollution in the river is visible with the naked eye: some rounded boulders in the water have turned a lurid yellowish orange, while mud deposits thickened the further Mongabay followed it upstream toward the mining concession. Parno has tried planting soybeans and corn, but the results were even worse and all the plants died. He tried to replant the entire field with rice, but the new…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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