In a joint operation, the Regional Autonomous Corporation of Cundinamarca (CAR) and the Public Force intervened in a property in the Gachaneca village, municipality of Lenguazaque, where underground coal mining was taking place, an activity prohibited in wasteland areas by current environmental regulations.

Technicians from the Integrated Environmental Governance Unit (UIGA), together with members of the National Army and the Carabineros and Environmental Protection Police, found still hot machinery that showed recent activity, as well as structures for storage of mining material, a camp and recent cuts of wood for underground support.

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During the inspection, the presence of hazardous waste (used oil) stored in metal drums directly on the ground, in the open, was documented, generating spills that could infiltrate the ground and affect the water resources of the area. According to Alfred Ignacio Ballesteros, general director of CAR, this type of inadequate management increases the impact on the ecosystem and threatens the quality of groundwater.

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The exploitation also affected the flora of the moor, removing vegetation cover on approximately 0.18 hectares, and altered the natural landscape with chromatic changes marked by mining. Furthermore, the moors constitute habitats for species adapted to extreme conditions, many of them endemic, so any intervention represents a significant environmental risk.

As a result of the operation, a preventive measure was imposed to suspend mining activity, and three people were captured and transferred to the municipality of Ubaté for prosecution before the Attorney General’s Office.

The CAR emphasized that any mining activity in paramos is prohibited, reiterating the need to protect these strategic ecosystems for the conservation of water resources and biodiversity.