{"id":38327,"date":"2022-06-16T16:41:16","date_gmt":"2022-06-16T20:41:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/?p=38327"},"modified":"2023-01-16T11:56:40","modified_gmt":"2023-01-16T16:56:40","slug":"filiere-batterie-eaux-contaminees-surveillance-environnementale-independante-miniere-nmg-pallinghurst","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/en\/filiere-batterie-eaux-contaminees-surveillance-environnementale-independante-miniere-nmg-pallinghurst\/","title":{"rendered":"Battery and contaminated water sector: Citizens begin independent environmental monitoring of the NMG-Pallinghurst mining company"},"content":{"rendered":"

PRESS RELEASE<\/strong>
<\/strong>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thursday June 16, 2022, Montreal\/Saint-Michel-des-Saints<\/strong> \u2013 Citizens supported by environmental organizations announce the start of independent environmental monitoring of the Matawinie project of the mining company Nouveau Monde Graphite (NMG-Pallinghurst), which targets the battery market. They made this announcement while participating in the company's annual shareholder meeting today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo our knowledge, this is the first time that citizens have decided to take it upon themselves to do their own sampling of water quality and aquatic ecosystems around a mining site in Quebec,\u201d says Rodrigue Turgeon of MiningWatch. Canada and co-spokesperson for the Coalition Qu\u00e9bec Meilleur Mine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn the ground, we are seeing more and more deforestation and infrastructure that retains contaminated water of which we know neither the composition nor the origin,\u201d underlines Paul Comeau of the Citizen Coalition opposed to a mining project in Haute-Normandie. Matawinie (COPH). \u201cThis concerns us greatly because we do not see any water treatment plant and all the water from the mining site eventually flows towards the village and the Lac Taureau Regional Park. There are also domestic wells around.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exasperated by the self-monitoring system of mining companies in Quebec and by the absence of independent inspectors on the ground, citizens decided to take water and sediment samples themselves in half a dozen courses of water since October 2021. The results of these samples will be made public later this year in a report prepared by the Society to Conquer Pollution (SVP), in collaboration with MiningWatch Canada and the Coalition Qu\u00e9bec Meilleur Mine. Citizens also reveal previously unseen photos of the mining site taken in May 2022:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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NMG-Pallinghurst mining site (May 2022, COPH credit)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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NMG-Pallinghurst mining site (May 2022, COPH credit)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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NMG-Pallinghurst mining site (May 2022, COPH credit)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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NMG-Pallinghurst mining site (May 2022, COPH credit)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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NMG-Pallinghurst mining site (May 2022, COPH credit)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Quebec questioned and requests for access to information<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not normal that simple citizens like us have to take samples to check the quality of our environment,\u201d says Daniel Tokat\u00e9loff of the Association for the Protection of Lake Taureau (APLT). \u201cThe Ministry of the Environment must play its role as watchdog of the public interest. And the mining company that says it wants to produce \u201cgreen\u201d graphite for \u201cgreen\u201d batteries must be much more transparent with its environmental data.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

R\u00e9becca P\u00e9trin of Eau Secours adds: \u201cNearly 18 months (539 days) after receiving its authorization decree, the mining company has still not responded to several of the environmental conditions that were nevertheless required by the government, including a program monitoring and more in-depth studies on the risks of water contamination linked to the management of mining waste\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yesterday, the organizations sent a series of requests for access to information as well as a letter to Mr. Benoit Charette, Minister of the Environment and the Fight against Climate Change (MELCC), demanding greater transparency and monitoring of the NMG-Pallinghurst mining site. More specifically, the organizations are requesting follow-ups regarding six of the conditions issued in the government decree in January 2021 aimed at water protection, namely:<\/p>\n\n\n\n