Canadian Mines Ministers Conference in Halifax:
Provinces & Territories Must Act To Avoid Mine Waste Disasters
While Energy & Mines Ministers from across Canada are meeting in Halifax for their annual conference, a coalition of more than 50 environmental, First Nations, and community organizations today sent a letter to all Canadian Mines Ministers urging them to take immediate action to assess and prevent the threat posed by hundreds of mine waste dams and impoundments in Canada.
The groups are pressuring provincial and territorial governments in Canada to respond to the lessons learned from the August 2014 Mount Polley mine disaster in British-Columbia – the biggest mining waste spill in Canadian history.
In January 2015, the Independent Expert Review Panel on the Mount Polley failure determined that current Canadian and global standards for mine waste disposal are fundamentally flawed and that future failures at other mines are simply a matter of time.
The Expert Panel firmly rejected any notion “that business as usual can continue,” and urged the industry and all regulators to change the way mining waste facilities are designed, operated, and regulated in order to avoid any future failures: “The Panel does not accept the concept of a tolerable failure rate for tailings dams. To do so, no matter how small, would institutionalize failure. First Nations will not accept this, the public will not permit it, government will not allow it, and the mining industry will not survive it.”
In the wake of the Mount Polley disaster, the British Columbia government called for an investigation of the safety of all 123 tailings dams within the province, and recently appointed a Mining Code Review Committee to determine how best to implement the panel’s recommendations. No other governments in Canada have yet announced similar measures.
Hazeltine Creek following the spill (photo by Chris Blake).
The groups signing the letter released today urge all Canadian Mines Ministers to work together to support and implement all of the Mount Polley Independent Expert Review Panel’s recommendations in order to avoid any future massive mine waste spill in Canada (see all recommendations in letter). The groups also recommend additional scrutiny for mines upstream of the Canada-U.S. border that could present a risk to either country’s waters.
For further information and a complete list of the signatories, see letter: http://www.patagoniaalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/2015-07-20_Mines_Ministers_Letter.pdf
SIGNATORIES TO DATE:
ACTION BORÉALE – ALASKA TROLLERS ASSOCIATION – AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CANADA – BC FIRST NATIONS ENERGY & MINING COUNCIL – BRITISH-COLUMBIA ENVIRONMENTAL NETWORK – CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF PHYSICIANS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT – CANADIAN COALITION FOR NUCLEAR RESPONSIBILITY – CANADIAN PARKS & WILDERNESS SOCIETY – CENTER FOR ALTERNATIVE MINING DEVELOPMENT POLICY – CLAYOQUOT ACTION – COALITION FOR A CLEAN GREEN SASKATCHEWAN – COALITION POUR QUE LE QUÉBEC AIT MEILLEURE MINE – COMITÉ MINE DE RIEN DE ST-CAMILLE – COMITÉ POUR LES DROITS HUMAINS EN AMÉRIQUE LATINE – COMITÉ VIGILANCE DE MALARTIC – COMMITTEE FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS – COUNCIL FOR PUBLIC HEALTH IN MINING COMMUNITIES – COUNCIL OF CANADIANS – QUILL PLAINS CHAPTER – DAVID SUZUKI FOUNDATION – EARTHWORKS – ECOSYSTEM DEFENSE DIRECTOR – FAIR MINING COLLABORATIVE – FONDATION RIVIÈRES – FOREST PROTECTION ALLIES – FRASER RIVERKEEPER – FRIENDS OF THE CLEARWATER – FRIENDS OF THE EARTH CANADA – GRAND RIVERKEEPER LABRADOR – GROUPE DE THÉOLOGIE CONTEXTUELLE QUÉBÉCOISE – GROUPE SOLIDARITÉ JUSTICE – INTER-CHURCH URANIUM COMMITTEE EDUCATIONAL CO-OPERATIVE – JUST ONE WORLD – KAIROS – KIPAWA LAKE PRESERVATION SOCIETY – MARITIMES-GUATEMALA BREAKING THE SILENCE SOLIDARITY NETWORK – MINING INJUSTICE SOLIDARITY NETWORK – MININGWATCH CANADA – NORTHERN CONFLUENCE – NORTHWATCH – NUCLEAR INFORMATION AND RESOURCE SERVICE – OKANOGAN HIGHLANDS ALLIANCE – ONTARIANS FOR A JUST AND ACCOUNTABLE MINERAL STRATEGY – PATAGONIA AREA RESOURCE ALLIANCE – PEACE-NB – POLARIS INSTITUE – PRIMATE’S WORLD RELEASE AND DEVELOPMENT FUND – QUESNEL RIVER WATERSHED ALLIANCE – RAPIDE-BLANC PRODUCTIONS – REGROUPEMENT JUSTICE/ENVIRONNEMENT DES SŒURS DE SAINTE-CROIX – REGROUPEMENT POUR LA SAUVEGARDE DE LA GRANDE BAIE DE SEPT-ÎLES – RENEWABLE POWER INTELLIGENT CHOICE – RÉSEAU ŒCUMÉNIQUE JUSTICE ET PAIX – RIVERS WITHOUT BORDERS – ROCK CREEK ALLIANCE – SAVE OUR SKY BLUE WATERS – SCIENCE FOR PEACE – SEPT-ILES SANS URANIUM – SIERRA CLUB – SOCIÉTÉ POUR VAINCRE LA POLLUTION – SOUTHEAST ALASKA CONSERVATION COUNCIL – SQUAMISH ENVIRONMENT SOCIETY – UNION OF BC INDIAN CHIEFS – WATERSHED WATCH SALMON SOCIETY – WEBER SUSTAINABILITY CONSULTING.
