August 28, 2024
The true cost of mining?
What is the true cost of mining? Unfortunately, environmental disasters are all too common in the mining industry. And the taxpayers often have to foot the cleanup bill. Frontline communities pay the cost for generations in terms of health, land, water, and wildlife degradation. The following represents just a small sample of news articles that illustrate the reality of allowing mining companies to undermine communities.
Nova Scotia
- “Gold mining company escalates appeal to N.S. Supreme Court”
- https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/gold-mining-company-nova-scotia-supreme-court-1.7298586
- “Atlantic Mining says requirements for cleaning up shuttered gold mine are impossible to meet”
- The company “raised issues around Halman’s standards for water quality management and monitoring”
- “When it comes to water quality criteria, Halman said Atlantic Mining is arguing to wait for an adverse environmental outcome before taking action, rather than being proactive when there's a risk of an adverse effect.”
- “Cleanup of historical mines in Nova Scotia to begin next year”
- https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/cleanup-historical-mines-next-year-1.7295465
- “The province's latest cost estimate for cleaning up all 60 historical mine sites is $148 million, and that figure will almost certainly grow.”
- “Get with the times: old laws can’t keep up with Nova Scotia’s new gold rush”
- https://thenarwhal.ca/opinion-nova-scotia-mining-assessment/
- “An increase in mine staking in the province needs to be met with a rigorous environmental assessment process — not the tight timelines, loopholes and lax consultation requirements of the past.”
Yukon
- “Documents show 'disastrous' cyanide leaks continue at Eagle mine in Yukon”
- https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/eagle-mine-july-23-documents-cyanide-leaks-1.7272765
- "[Victoria Gold] has failed in many major respects," Newton said, noting the company has a history of not meeting regulatory requirements. "The scale of this disaster continues to increase every day."
- “Yukon premier blasts Victoria Gold's 'absence of action' in response to cyanide spill”
- https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/yukon-premier-blasts-victoria-gold-1.7281696#:~:text=North-,Yukon%20premier%20blasts%20Victoria%20Gold's%20'absence%20of%20action'%20in%20response,harsh%20warning%20to%20future%20developers.
- “I'm not going to stand before you and paint a rosy picture of mining and 'we must do better,'" Pillai said. "I will not do so when we see corporations cut their losses and run at the suggestion of financial loss, not when our people are facing the loss of the safe use of their lands, not when we are left with a giant mess to clean up."
British Columbia
- “5 things you need to know about Mount Polley, 10 years after Canada’s worst mine waste disaster”
- https://thenarwhal.ca/mount-polley-mine-five-things-explainer/
- Imperial Metals reports paying $70 million to clean up the spill and remediate Hazeltine Creek. But the company has never been fined or faced legal repercussionsfor the tailings dam failure — and B.C. taxpayers covered $40 million in cleanup costs.
- “British Columbians Saddled With $40 Million Clean-Up Bill as Imperial Metals Escapes Criminal Charges”
- https://thenarwhal.ca/british-columbians-saddled-40-million-clean-bill-imperial-metals-escapes-criminal-charges/
- “The key message to Canadians is this was the biggest mining spill in Canadian history and there have been zero sanctions and zero fines, and certainly that’s not because of lack of evidence of damage to the environment,” said Ugo Lapointe, Mining Watch Canada’s program coordinator.”
- “British Columbia’s multimillion-dollar mining problem”
- https://thenarwhal.ca/bc-mining-liabilities-cleanup-costs-taxpayers/
- “The true cost of cleaning up mine pollution in B.C. is growing, an investigation by The Globe and Mail and The Narwhal has found. If disaster strikes, taxpayers could be stuck with covering the costs.”
