The Marcopper mining disaster is one of the worst mining and environmental disasters in Philippine history. It occurred on March 24, 1996, on the Philippine island of Marinduque, a province of the Philippines located in the Mimaropa region. The disaster led to drastic reforms in the country's mining policy. A fracture in the drainage tunnel of a large pit containing leftover mine tailings led to a discharge of toxic mine waste into the Makulapnit-Boac river system and caused flash floods in areas along the river. One village, Barangay Hinapulan, was buried in six feet of muddy floodwater, causing the displacement of 400 families. Twenty other villages had to be evacuated. Drinking water was contaminated killing fish and freshwater shrimp. Large animals such as cows, pigs and sheep were overcome and killed. The flooding caused the destruction of crops and irrigation channels. Following the disaster, the Boac River was declared unusable. History Marcopper Mining was a Canadian corporation that officially started its copper mining operations in 1969 at the Mt. Tapian Ore Deposit on Marinduque Island in the Philippines. When the Mt. Tapian reserve was depleted in 1990, Marcopper moved its operations to the San Antonio copper mine, three kilometers north of the Mt. Tapian site. Mine tailings from the Mt. Tapian site were discharged into Calancan Bay. It is estimated that 84 million metric tons of mine tailings were discharged into the shallow bay between 1975 and 1988. Complaints from local residents led to the Mt. Tapian open-cut mine site being converted to receive mine tailings from the San Antonio mine on a temporary basis. Marcopper plugged up the Mt. Tapian pit with a concrete fixture to allow it to act as a disposal lake for the mining waste. The use of the Tapian Pit as a waste containment system was unconventional. Environmental risk assessment and management had not been carried out by Marcopper. The Marinduque Mines operated by Marcopper dumped waste into the shallow bay of Calancan for 16 years, totaling 200 million tons of toxic tailings. When exposed to ocean breezes, the tailings, which partially floated, become airborne and landed on rice fields, in open water wells, and on village homes. Local residents called this their "Snow from Canada." This "Snow from Canada," consisting of mine tailings, forced 59 children to undergo lead detoxification in the Philippine capital of Manila. At least three children have died from heavy