Story reported by Patrick Dymora Gypsum in El Salvador Story reported by Patrick Dymora

My Trip to El Salvador El Salvador is a very peaceful area from what I can tell. It is very nice and slowly growing economically and socially (El Salvador mining, n.d.). From my travels I have discovered that El Salvador is actually slowly becoming destroyed from unnecessary mineral mining. It is because of this mineral mining that sustainable development plans for Northern El Salvador are being halted (Congressional Letter, n. d.). I will continue to further explore El Salvador in search of more evidence that mining really is destroying this beautiful country. Photo credit : Susispice Word Press

of land by mining. Picture showing the destruction Photo credit: Monga Bay

Gypsum The mineral Gypsum is one of the many minerals that are mined for in El Salvador. It is because of these minerals that the land of El Salvador is being ruined (Mining in El Salvador). The land is being ruined by many different types of ways, and it is harmful to many different things, which I will cover later in my report.

Photos of Gypsum Photo credit: Cartage Photo credit: The Encyclopedia of Science.

Gypsum Causing Water Shortages I have found El Salvador to be quite a small country, with quite a few problems. One of those problems are chronic water shortages. Ofcoarse these can be fixed over time as the country develops. But if mining continues in El Salvador, the water shortages will become even worse. An estimated 200,000 liters of water a day will be needed for the mineral extraction process (Congressional Letter on Mining, n.d.). This will cause great conflict in the country (Congressional Letter on Mining, n.d.). Photo credit: Upside-down World

Young boy in El Salvador fetching water from the only water source available for miles. Photo credit: Project Concern

El Salvador Mining Causing Deforestation El Salvador is ranked as one of the least forested countries (Congressional letter on mining). But if mining continues and spreads, even more forests will be cut and destroyed in order to mine for minerals like Gypsum.

Maquilishuat, National Tree of El Salvador Photo credit: Ray Shernandez

Here you can clearly see the deforestation already taking place. Photo credit: Wpcontent

Mining Causing Health Issues Its no surprise that El Salvador isn’t the most sanitary country out there, but it’s quite obvious that mining for Gypsum will only make the current situation worse. Mineral extraction will pollute the air with toxic mercury, cyanide and sulfur dioxide gases (Congressional Letter on Mining, n.d.). Theses gases have been linked to pulmonary and respiratory illnesses, cancer, miscarriages, fetal deformities and are known to cause headaches, loss of appetite, nausea, skin problems, and vertigo (El Salvador Sister Cities, June 17, 2009) .

Mining Site in El Salvador Photo credit: Crispaz

After My trip back from El Salvador, I realized how lucky we as Americans are to have such a balanced country. Other Countries like El Salvador simply try to make their money off of mining which ruins their land and in the end costs them more money to fix (El Salvador Sister Cities , June 17, 2009). I hope you have all enjoyed my article and learned a bit more about the dangers of mining for Gypsum in El Salvador.

Reference Page Michaud, Michael H. "Congressional Letter on Mineral Mining in El Salvador." SHARE Foundation: Building a New El Salvador Today! Web. 15 Nov. 2009. <http://www.share-elsalvador.org/programs/advocacy/mining%20dear%20colleague0307.htm>. "Mining in El Salvador; At What Price?" CRISPAZ - Christians for Peace in El Salvador. Web. 14 Nov. 2009. <http://www.crispaz.org/news/list/2008/0611.html>. "Mining in El Salvador So What Next?" Voices from El Salvadors Weblog. Web. 16 Nov. 2009. <http://voiceselsalvador.wordpress.com/mining-in-el-salvador-so-what-now/>. "Mining in El Salvador." SalvAide Home Page. Web. 16 Nov. 2009. <http://www.salvaide.ca/mining.html>. "US - El Salvador Sister Cities - Congressional Brief: Mineral Mining In El Salvador: June 17, 2009." U.S.-El Salvador Sister Cities. Web. 16 Nov. 2009. <http://elsalvadorsolidarity.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=226&Itemid=65>.