Lakes threatened by a mine: a coalition calls on Quebec to act

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Montreal, August 13, 2020 – A coalition of citizen and environmental organizations is calling on Quebec to act to prevent the destruction of 8 lakes and around ten waterways for the storage of mining waste at the Lac Bloom mine, in northern Quebec.

In letter sent at the beginning of the week to the Minister of the Environment, Mr. Benoît Charette, the organizations affirm that the project of the Australian mining company Champion Iron is unacceptable in its current form. They fear a dangerous precedent, while other solutions exist.

They call on Quebec to demand modifications to the project and to maintain its historic position of prohibiting the filling of lakes for the storage of mining waste on its territory. Organizations also fear spills of mining residues, water contamination and impacts on biodiversity. The project aims to dispose, in perpetuity, of 872 million tonnes of additional mining waste, almost triple the volume authorized under the current permit.

Return the residue to the excavated pits

“Quebec must demand good environmental practices, in particular the complete backfilling of open pits to reduce the surface footprint. This would prevent the destruction of lakes and would further reduce the risk of accidental spills,” says Ugo Lapointe, co-founder of the Coalition Québec Meilleur Mine and coordinator at MiningWatch Canada.

The filling of mining pits is an increasingly widespread practice in Quebec and internationally. The organizations denounce the promoter's current refusal to consider this avenue on the basis of technical and economic considerations. They ask him to reconsider this position. They call on Quebec to require new detailed studies for residue storage scenarios in the pits. They ask that these fundamental studies be submitted before a BAPE is held.

Rébecca Pétrin from Eau Secours: “No profit margin justifies sacrificing the lakes to deposit mining waste there. Quebec must intervene to clearly prohibit this type of practice on its territory.”

“Quebec must also require the complete treatment of wastewater while aiming for environmental protection objectives adapted to the environment and available technologies, and obviously prohibit the dilution of pollutants in natural waters,” insists Marc Fafard of SISUR, in Sept-Îles, and current president of the Duplessis Watershed Organization.

Citizens and organizations have until Monday, August 24, 2020, to send their request examination of this project by the Quebec Bureau of Public Hearings on the Environment. The organizations signing the letter have already requested it.

The signatory organizations include: the Coalition Québec Meilleur Mine, Eau Secours, Fondation Rivières, David Suzuki Foundation, Greenpeace Canada, MiningWatch Canada, Nature Québec, Regroupement vigilance mines de l'Abitibi-Témiscamingue, SISUR in Sept-Îles and the Société pour la nature and parks (SNAP-Québec).

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