Metal Mining Effluent Regulation
Posted: Wed Nov 01, 2006 4:24 pmDate: October 24, 2006
Subject: Stop The Destruction Of Trout Pond Newfoundland & Stand Up For The Sanctity Of The Fisheries Act
Dear Ministers Ambrose and Hearn:
Riversides encourages Rona Ambrose, Environment Minister and Loyola Hearn, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to re-examine and overturn the Metal Mining Effluent Regulation approval by their bureaucrats that will destroy the pristine habitat of Trout Pond, Newfoundland by Aur Resources.
The destruction of viable fisheries habitat for the disposal of toxic metal mining effluent at Tout Pond, Newfoundland on the Exploits River – one of Canada’s greatest salmon fisheries habitats, is a criminal violation of the Fisheries Act facilitated by the MMER. No amount of habitat restoration compensates for the loss of pristine habitat within one of Canada’s greatest salmon and trout watersheds – the Exploits.
There is nothing sustainable in resource extraction that results in the wanton destruction of freshwater ecosystems. Regardless of the slight of hand that the MMER allows, the result is that we are using viable fisheries habitat and drinking water resources as the dumping ground for mining effluent. As the world acknowledges every day the limitations of fresh water resources, Canada continues to abuse what we believe, foolishly, we have in abundance and there fore can wantonly destroy. These are not just a couple of small ponds Ministers, these are the conscience of the nation. How much longer must Canada continue to be an environmental miscreant?
Minister Ambrose and Hearn, stand up for the Fisheries Act, overturn your bureaucrat’s MMER approval destroying Trout Pond, and demonstrate the knowledgeable leadership that it takes to protect our freshwater environment. Stop the facilitators of its destruction before they make the names of DOE and DFO a laughing stock in the world of environmental protection.
We await your thoughtful action,
Sincerely,
Kevin Mercer | Executive Director
RiverSides | "Where Water Quality Begins"
511 Richmond St. W. | Toronto, Ontario| M5V 1Y3
www.riversides.org | 416 868-1983
==================================
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 24 October 2006
Ottawa – On October 18, two lakes in Newfoundland that are habitat to trout, Atlantic salmon, otter, and other species, received a death sentence as the newly amended Metal Mining Effluent Regulations (MMER) went into law.
In a precedent-setting move, Environment Canada (EC) amended the MMER, a regulation under the Fisheries Act, to allow Aur Resources to dump toxic waste from their copper-zinc-gold mine into Trout Pond and a nearby unnamed lake. Both these lakes are in Newfoundland’s largest watershed, the Exploits River system—a system that has had millions of taxpayer dollars pumped into it for fish habitat restoration.
This legalised destruction of fish-bearing lakes opens the door to the destruction of other fish-bearing water bodies all across Canada. Mining companies have only to ask the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and Environment Canada for permission, and bingo! they’ve got it.
Environment Canada confirms that at least nine other mine projects in British Columbia, Nunavut, Saskatchewan, and the Northwest Territories will be seeking similar amendments so they can use lakes as waste dump sites for their mines (see next page).
In response to a request by Aur Resources, EC added the two lakes to Schedule 2 of the MMER. Water bodies listed on Schedule 2 are thereby re-defined as tailings impoundment areas and are no longer considered to be lakes and, therefore, are no longer protected under the Fisheries Act.
"Government says the Fisheries Act and the MMER are intended to protect fish-bearing waters from destruction by mine tailings—certainly the public expects this—but by this regulatory sleight-of-hand, fish-bearing lakes across Canada are no longer protected from destruction by toxic mine waste," says Dr. Catherine Coumans of MiningWatch Canada, who participated in EC’s regulatory revision process.
Maggie Paquet, a biologist who also participated in the revision process, says EC seems to have ignored its obligation to review alternative options for tailings management. "We reviewed all the public documents made available to us and could find no evidence that Environment Canada provided any advice to Aur Resources about less damaging waste disposal technologies at this mine—and these do exist."
Federal officials in EC and DFO defend the amendment, saying that habitat destruction can be compensated for by altering nearby areas to create new fish habitat.
But independent fish and aquatic habitat experts examined the reports EC and DFO used to justify the amendment and say they are hopelessly inadequate and scientifically inferior, and that no new fish habitat will be created. They say the compensation described could be done under present legislation, and that they are using a confused and invalid argument that leads to fuzzy and inaccurate results.
Dr. Gordon Hartman, a retired DFO biologist in Nanaimo, BC, says: "Government’s approval of this amendment is built on problematic compensation plans and failure to consider potential impacts to fish in this river system. It appears to be unsound environmental management to allow the project to proceed and then listing these ponds in Schedule 2 of the MMER."
Dr. John Gibson, another former DFO biologist who lives in Newfoundland and knows the area, says, "The two lakes have populations of salmon and trout and associated wildlife, such as beavers, otters, and waterfowl, all of which will be poisoned. The life of the mine is expected to be six years, but the ponds will become toxic waste sites in perpetuity. Over that time there is a possibility that there will be leakage of copper and zinc, which are toxic to fish, and if the retaining dam breaks there will be massive mortality of salmon down the Exploits River."
Gibson says, "The so-called compensation plan is totally inadequate and is merely an excuse to allow the mine to pollute the two lakes. Trout Pond has effectively been privatised for the mining company to use as a toxic waste dump. The Fisheries Act, previously held in esteem, has been considerably weakened."
-30-
Contacts
Dr. Catherine Coumans, MiningWatch Canada, 613-569-3439, catherine@miningwatch.ca
Maggie Paquet, Citizens’ Stewardship Coalition, 250-723-8802; maggie_paquet@telus.net
Dr. John Gibson, retired DFO biologist, NL: 709-726-2498, rjgibson@nf.sympatico.ca
Dr. Gordon Hartman, retired DFO biologist, BC: 250-758–7696, gordon_hartman@telus.net
For more information, see:
* Issue Summary and References: http://www.miningwatch.ca/index.php?/aur/mmer_concerns
* Regulations Amending the Metal Mining Effluent Regulations http://canadagazette.gc.ca/partI/2006/2 ... le2-e.html
Mining Caucus (RCEN) webpages: http://www.cen-rce.org/eng/caucuses/mining/index.html
Mining Projects Expected to Request Listing Tailings Impoundment Areas (TIAs) on Schedule 2 of the Metal Mining Effluent Regulations*
Project/Mine Name
Proposed or Existing TIA Location
Province/Territory
1.
Kemess North Project
Proposed
British Columbia
2.
Red Chris
Proposed
British Columbia
3.
High Lake
Proposed
Nunavut
4.
Doris North
Proposed
Nunavut
5.
Meadowbank Gold
Proposed
Saskatchewan
6.
Goldfields
Proposed
Northwest Territories
7.
Yellowknife Gold
Proposed
Northwest Territories
8.
NICO Property
Proposed
Northwest Territories
9.
Damoti Lake
Proposed
Northwest Territories
10.
Wabush Mines
Existing (mine has a transitional authorisation)
Newfoundland and Labrador
11.
Duck Pond
Proposed
Newfoundland and Labrador
12.
Iron Ore Company
Existing (mine has a transitional authorisation)
Newfoundland and Labrador
13.
Mount Wright
Existing
Newfoundland and Labrador
*source: Environment Canada
You must be the change you wish to see in the world.
-- Mahatma Gandhi
"The economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment."
-- Herman Daly, former senior economist at the World Bank.
Subject: Stop The Destruction Of Trout Pond Newfoundland & Stand Up For The Sanctity Of The Fisheries Act
Dear Ministers Ambrose and Hearn:
Riversides encourages Rona Ambrose, Environment Minister and Loyola Hearn, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to re-examine and overturn the Metal Mining Effluent Regulation approval by their bureaucrats that will destroy the pristine habitat of Trout Pond, Newfoundland by Aur Resources.
The destruction of viable fisheries habitat for the disposal of toxic metal mining effluent at Tout Pond, Newfoundland on the Exploits River – one of Canada’s greatest salmon fisheries habitats, is a criminal violation of the Fisheries Act facilitated by the MMER. No amount of habitat restoration compensates for the loss of pristine habitat within one of Canada’s greatest salmon and trout watersheds – the Exploits.
There is nothing sustainable in resource extraction that results in the wanton destruction of freshwater ecosystems. Regardless of the slight of hand that the MMER allows, the result is that we are using viable fisheries habitat and drinking water resources as the dumping ground for mining effluent. As the world acknowledges every day the limitations of fresh water resources, Canada continues to abuse what we believe, foolishly, we have in abundance and there fore can wantonly destroy. These are not just a couple of small ponds Ministers, these are the conscience of the nation. How much longer must Canada continue to be an environmental miscreant?
Minister Ambrose and Hearn, stand up for the Fisheries Act, overturn your bureaucrat’s MMER approval destroying Trout Pond, and demonstrate the knowledgeable leadership that it takes to protect our freshwater environment. Stop the facilitators of its destruction before they make the names of DOE and DFO a laughing stock in the world of environmental protection.
We await your thoughtful action,
Sincerely,
Kevin Mercer | Executive Director
RiverSides | "Where Water Quality Begins"
511 Richmond St. W. | Toronto, Ontario| M5V 1Y3
www.riversides.org | 416 868-1983
==================================
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 24 October 2006
Ottawa – On October 18, two lakes in Newfoundland that are habitat to trout, Atlantic salmon, otter, and other species, received a death sentence as the newly amended Metal Mining Effluent Regulations (MMER) went into law.
In a precedent-setting move, Environment Canada (EC) amended the MMER, a regulation under the Fisheries Act, to allow Aur Resources to dump toxic waste from their copper-zinc-gold mine into Trout Pond and a nearby unnamed lake. Both these lakes are in Newfoundland’s largest watershed, the Exploits River system—a system that has had millions of taxpayer dollars pumped into it for fish habitat restoration.
This legalised destruction of fish-bearing lakes opens the door to the destruction of other fish-bearing water bodies all across Canada. Mining companies have only to ask the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and Environment Canada for permission, and bingo! they’ve got it.
Environment Canada confirms that at least nine other mine projects in British Columbia, Nunavut, Saskatchewan, and the Northwest Territories will be seeking similar amendments so they can use lakes as waste dump sites for their mines (see next page).
In response to a request by Aur Resources, EC added the two lakes to Schedule 2 of the MMER. Water bodies listed on Schedule 2 are thereby re-defined as tailings impoundment areas and are no longer considered to be lakes and, therefore, are no longer protected under the Fisheries Act.
"Government says the Fisheries Act and the MMER are intended to protect fish-bearing waters from destruction by mine tailings—certainly the public expects this—but by this regulatory sleight-of-hand, fish-bearing lakes across Canada are no longer protected from destruction by toxic mine waste," says Dr. Catherine Coumans of MiningWatch Canada, who participated in EC’s regulatory revision process.
Maggie Paquet, a biologist who also participated in the revision process, says EC seems to have ignored its obligation to review alternative options for tailings management. "We reviewed all the public documents made available to us and could find no evidence that Environment Canada provided any advice to Aur Resources about less damaging waste disposal technologies at this mine—and these do exist."
Federal officials in EC and DFO defend the amendment, saying that habitat destruction can be compensated for by altering nearby areas to create new fish habitat.
But independent fish and aquatic habitat experts examined the reports EC and DFO used to justify the amendment and say they are hopelessly inadequate and scientifically inferior, and that no new fish habitat will be created. They say the compensation described could be done under present legislation, and that they are using a confused and invalid argument that leads to fuzzy and inaccurate results.
Dr. Gordon Hartman, a retired DFO biologist in Nanaimo, BC, says: "Government’s approval of this amendment is built on problematic compensation plans and failure to consider potential impacts to fish in this river system. It appears to be unsound environmental management to allow the project to proceed and then listing these ponds in Schedule 2 of the MMER."
Dr. John Gibson, another former DFO biologist who lives in Newfoundland and knows the area, says, "The two lakes have populations of salmon and trout and associated wildlife, such as beavers, otters, and waterfowl, all of which will be poisoned. The life of the mine is expected to be six years, but the ponds will become toxic waste sites in perpetuity. Over that time there is a possibility that there will be leakage of copper and zinc, which are toxic to fish, and if the retaining dam breaks there will be massive mortality of salmon down the Exploits River."
Gibson says, "The so-called compensation plan is totally inadequate and is merely an excuse to allow the mine to pollute the two lakes. Trout Pond has effectively been privatised for the mining company to use as a toxic waste dump. The Fisheries Act, previously held in esteem, has been considerably weakened."
-30-
Contacts
Dr. Catherine Coumans, MiningWatch Canada, 613-569-3439, catherine@miningwatch.ca
Maggie Paquet, Citizens’ Stewardship Coalition, 250-723-8802; maggie_paquet@telus.net
Dr. John Gibson, retired DFO biologist, NL: 709-726-2498, rjgibson@nf.sympatico.ca
Dr. Gordon Hartman, retired DFO biologist, BC: 250-758–7696, gordon_hartman@telus.net
For more information, see:
* Issue Summary and References: http://www.miningwatch.ca/index.php?/aur/mmer_concerns
* Regulations Amending the Metal Mining Effluent Regulations http://canadagazette.gc.ca/partI/2006/2 ... le2-e.html
Mining Caucus (RCEN) webpages: http://www.cen-rce.org/eng/caucuses/mining/index.html
Mining Projects Expected to Request Listing Tailings Impoundment Areas (TIAs) on Schedule 2 of the Metal Mining Effluent Regulations*
Project/Mine Name
Proposed or Existing TIA Location
Province/Territory
1.
Kemess North Project
Proposed
British Columbia
2.
Red Chris
Proposed
British Columbia
3.
High Lake
Proposed
Nunavut
4.
Doris North
Proposed
Nunavut
5.
Meadowbank Gold
Proposed
Saskatchewan
6.
Goldfields
Proposed
Northwest Territories
7.
Yellowknife Gold
Proposed
Northwest Territories
8.
NICO Property
Proposed
Northwest Territories
9.
Damoti Lake
Proposed
Northwest Territories
10.
Wabush Mines
Existing (mine has a transitional authorisation)
Newfoundland and Labrador
11.
Duck Pond
Proposed
Newfoundland and Labrador
12.
Iron Ore Company
Existing (mine has a transitional authorisation)
Newfoundland and Labrador
13.
Mount Wright
Existing
Newfoundland and Labrador
*source: Environment Canada
You must be the change you wish to see in the world.
-- Mahatma Gandhi
"The economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment."
-- Herman Daly, former senior economist at the World Bank.