Additionally, the job cuts threaten the maintenance of a tailings pond for wastewater from ore processing. Striker Ren Enr quez Le n says mine runoff could reach nearby headwaters of the Sonora River, leading to massive pollution in farming regions downstream. It would be an ecological disaster, he says. Cananea s 30,000 residents already suffered an environmental mess at the end of the strike, when the company closed the town s water works. The mine had provided water to the town for 80 years, and municipal authorities lacked funds and personnel to run the system.
Residents accuse the company of putting untreated water into the town s water supply.
Ca izares says 10 hepatitis cases were discovered at a school where water for bathrooms had been cut off. In the countryside, local farmers supporting the women halted the operation of wells on their land, where the water comes from. During the strike, the unionists won support from Garc a, the mayor, who himself worked in the mine for 18 years. The miners also had verbal backing from the Sonora governor and all three parties in the state legislature. Strikers say their most important help came from copper miners and unions north of the border.