Kenny Sharpe of The Muse, reports that just 90 minutes from St. John’s, a body of water known as Sandy Pond is generating discussion, with plans in place to turn the water body into a tailings pond by pumping potentially toxic byproducts of iron, gypsum, and sulphur directly into the fish habitat.
Sandy Pond, as a tailings pond, is part of mining giant Vale’s master plan for its multi-billion dollar nickel processing plant, currently under construction in Long Harbour, Newfoundland.
As Vale spokesperson Bob Carter indicated, the Long Harbour site will directly receive mined nickel, cobalt, and copper, which will arrive from their mining operation in Voisey’s Bay, Labrador.
Once the facility at Long Harbour is in operation, Carter says 99.9 per cent nickel will be produced through a lengthy, hydrometallurgical process, with the residue from this operation slated to be pumped directly into the neighbouring Sandy Pond.
Government opposition from the NDP and environment groups, such as the Sandy Pond Alliance, have come up with strong opposition against the use of Sandy Pond as Vale’s trash pit, yet Carter insists its use is necessary at Long Harbour’s hydromet plant.
As stated in a Vale document, the Long Harbour-Voisey’s Bay project will generate thousands of jobs, nearly $2.2-billion in induced income, while increasing the provincial GDP by some $20-billion. In that same document, Vale notes that they are aware that the disruption of some natural habitat is inevitable.
“For unavoidable loss, such as will occur for secure residue storage at Sandy Pond, a Fish Habitat Compensation Plan will be developed and implemented to ensure there is no net loss of productive fish habitat,” reads the document.
A 2008 report from Fisheries and Oceans Canada, also flagged the possible destruction of fish and wildlife habitats. “Accidental events and malfunctions, such as spills of acid, nickel concentrate, lime and limestone, and a dam failure at Sandy Pond, could result in damages to fish, fish habitat, and water quality,” said the June 2008 report, also noting that with a projected pond pH of 10, birds would not be harmed if they were to land in Sandy Pond.
When asked of the possible long-term effects of using Sandy Pond as a tailings pond, not only the effects on wildlife but on residents in the surrounding towns of Long Harbour-Mount Arlington Heights, Bill Montevecchi, a Memorial University research professor in psychology, biology, and ocean sciences and a member of the Sandy Pond Alliance, brought up the most recent national and global examples. He noted the toxic, red sludge that has covered parts of Hungary, just northwest of Budapest, from a dam which broke, resulting in the release of toxic byproducts from mining operations spanning decades in that country.
Montevecchi also referenced Canadian oilsand company, Syncrude, who just weeks ago paid approximately $3-million in environmental fines after the deaths of almost 400 ducks who landed in one of their artificial oil-tailing ponds. Continuing, he noted the increased rates of cancer and decreased life expectancies of people living in towns that border Alberta’s Athabasca River, where adjacent tailings ponds have led to an increase in river mercury and arsenic levels. “Water is a life-support system; life cannot exist without water,” said Montevecchi.
The operation at Long Harbour will produce some 375,000 tons of waste per year, which will be dumped into Sandy Pond. Speaking about Newfoundland and Labrador’s Minister of Environment and Conservation, Charlene Johnson, Montevecchi believes that deep down she must know this will be devastating. “I believe that, deep down in their hearts, the provincial and federal environment ministers know this is wrong,” said Montevecchi. At Confederation Hill in St. John’s, Minister Johnson says Montevecchi couldn’t possibly read her mind, and that she bases her decisions on science, not from her heart. “The decision that we made was based on science, and with the science and technology that is available today the best decision in this case was the use of Sandy Pond,” said Johnson.
No comments:
Post a Comment