Colombia is looking to accelerate its energy transition amid growing international demand for strategic minerals. But activists from El Carmen de Atrato in Chocó, western Colombia, allege that El Roble, the country’s only active copper mine, is harming the environment and local community.The Atrato River, which flows beneath El Roble, was granted constitutional rights in 2016, yet activists raise long-standing concerns over water pollution, tailings dam risks and alleged failures to meet conservation commitments in the area surrounding the mine.Critics say the mine has been allowed to operate under antiquated environmental regulation, with a modern environmental licence still under review.El Roble rejects all allegations, stating it is a responsible business that complies with environmental regulations. The company says it is the primary source of employment in El Carmen and points to its track record of local investment and community projects.
“People bathe in the river, they eat from the river — they live, dance and sing there,” says Dora Agudelo Vázquez. “Their whole lives are bound to the river.”
Agudelo Vazquez, one of the guardians of the Atrato River, is sitting on a park bench in the main square of her hometown of El Carmen de Atrato, in Colombia’s northwestern Chocó department. “In these 30 years of mining, the river has suffered a lot,” she says.
