Abandoned Mines in Canada:the MiningWatch Canada Strategy

The Problem in 1999

• Over 10,000 abandoned mines in Canada

• Very little public awareness of the issue

• Provincial governments responsible for mines in their jurisdiction

• Federal government responsible for uranium, and mines in north

• Little political will to do anything

Britannia Mine

Britannia Mine Pouring AMD (Acid Mine Drainage)

into Howe Sound

• Discharge from old adits

at 2200 and 4100 levels• Metals-contaminated tailings

flowing into Howe Sound• Contaminated ground-water• Former infrastructure

Faro MineOver $250 million and counting

• Lead/zinc mine, operated 1969-1998• 3 large open pits• Waste rock dumps• 57 million tonnes of tailings• Seepage from tailings pond

Giant Mine237,000 tonnes of arsenic tri-oxide

Giant Mine• 237,000 tonnes of arsenic tri-oxide stored in 15

underground chambers• On surface, arsenic contaminated

buildings,tailings and oils, asbestos• Produced 7 million ounces of gold 1948-1999• Plan is to freeze the arsenic and surrounding rock

underground• Tailings covers, demolish buildings

Giant Mine bulkhead

Colomac Mine

Colomac

• 222 kms north of Yellowknife

• Operated 1989-1997

• Tailings area full to overflowing: cyanide, ammonia, metals

• Affecting food chain, caribou and fish

Hollinger MineThreatening Timmins

Timmins Sinkhole 2005Crown Pillar Collapse

Kam KotiaMore acidic than battery acid

• 6 million tonnes of acid-generating tailings• Zinc/copper mine 1943-61• Metals in Kamikotia River• Sediments in river

contaminated• Run-off pH1.8-2.5• Over $55 million

Mt. Washington MineDestroying a $2 million/year salmon fishery

Port RadiumLeaving a village of widows

Port Radium

• Mined for silver and radium 1929-1940; for uranium 1942-1960; for silver 1964-82

• 1.7 million tonnes if uranium and silver tailings on site (contained) and in Great Bear Lake (uncontained)

• Remediation plan being prepared

Deloro Miners100 years of mining…only toxins left

Deloro MineArsenic and radioactivity

The context

• A series of shocking problems with mines: 1987- Highway collapses at Cobalt 1990- Matachawan tailings dam breaks 1995- Mt Washington destroying fishery 1996- EMCBC calls attention to Britannia, others 1997-1999- a number of mines go bankrupt in the North

• ICME commissions paper on reclamation bonding• MMSD report 2001

Governments beginning to pay attention

• 1993- Canadian Council of Ministry of the Environment issues report on contaminated sites

• 1998- Canada-Wide Accord on Environmental Harmonization affirms “polluter pays” principle

• 1999 Ontario announces $27 million for cleanup• EMCBC petitions Commission for Environmental

Cooperation about Britannia, Mt. Washington and Tulsequah Chief

Our strategy

• Research all available information• Build public awareness of issues and particular

mines: inform our colleagues, media• Make the federal government pay attention to the

issue: briefs to cabinet; lobby with others• Develop a national task force with public servants

and industry

What We Did• Raised hell about individual mines• Hired W. O. Mackasey to research inventories• Distributed the papers to eight federal cabinet

ministers and the press• Called for

A National Inventory A transparent system for ranking hazards Emergency response Mechanisms A funding mechanism to recover costs from the industry

National Orphaned and Abandoned Mines Initiative (NOAMI)

• In early 2000, set up a meeting with Mining Association of Canada

• Agreed to work together to get federal and provincial governments aware and involved

• Complete disagreement on polluter pays• Conference with communities, industry,

federal/provincial governments, and Auditor-General’s office in June 2001

Planning the Winnipeg Conference

NOAMI Accomplishments• Web site: www.abandoned-mines.org• Conference on assessing liability and funding

approaches November 2005• National database researched and will be in place

this fall• Finished four major reports:

– Funding Approaches– Legal and Institutional Barriers to Collaboration– Community Involvement (case studies)– Establishing a National Database

Green Budget Coalition

Worked with an Ecological

Fiscal Reform Coalition

to put forward the

Clean Canada Fund

Intensive lobbying

with other groups

Building the Pressure

• Conference with Assembly of First Nations• Reports on Full Costs and Mining in the Boreal• Other NGOs take on specific sites

– Giant – CARC (Canadian Arctic Resources Committee)

– Faro and Mt. Nansen – YCS (Yukon Conservation Society)

– Kam Kotia – Northwatch

– Port Radium – Dene of Deline

– Renabi – Missinabie Cree

Federal Government Responds• Auditor-General’s report November 2002

• Treasury Board demands accounting from departments

• August 2003 – CEC report slams federal government

• Series of articles syndicated December 2003

• March 2004 – federal accounting changes

• Budget January 2004 – $175 million for abandoned mines clean-up

• Budget April 2004 – $4 billion for federal contaminated sites

Indications of Success

• Money available and work begun on federal mines

• Aboriginal communities involved in cleanup

• Some provinces have announced money for clean-up: $25 million in B.C, $27 million in Ontario

Challenges:

• Making sure the federal money is well spent

• Making sure reclamation costs are covered

• Getting polluters to pay the costs

• Getting proper remediation of sites

• Getting each province to act

Future Strategy

• Ensure we know what governments are doing in key cases

• Highlight on-going problems through media, colleagues

• Provide support to communities (technical assistance, publicity, networking)

• Continue work with NOAMI – provincial laws, polluter pays, reclamation bonding

Schist LakeBefore and After Closure