Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault will decide in the coming months whether he recommends authorizing a mining company to destroy several lakes and streams to store millions of tonnes of mine tailings in Quebec. The Trudeau government has just launched a consultation that includes two public meetings that will be held in mining towns and that is based on reports produced at the request of the Quebec iron ore company, which operates the iron mine. from Bloom Lake.
To exploit its deposit located near Fermont until 2040, at a rate of 15 million tonnes per year, the company estimates its “storage needs” of tailings and waste rock at 1.3 billion tonnes, of which 872 million that will need to be stored in new sites near the mine pit.
However, “the land space available” is insufficient, according to what could be read in the impact study of the mining company, which had then rejected the idea of storing the residues in the pit so as not to “put in jeopardize the exploitation of a resource potentially exploitable in the future”.
Quebec Iron Ore, a subsidiary of Australian mining company Champion Iron, which bought the Bloom Lake iron mine with the help of Investissement Québec in 2016, had therefore opted for the idea of backfilling lakes and streams. water to dispose of logging residues. According to data provided at the time by the Quebec Ministry of the Environment, some 25 lakes should be destroyed. Added to this are waterways and wetlands.
Fire to Quebec
As part of the Quebec review process for the project, the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE) had however recommended in 2021 not to authorize the destruction of rivers and lakes. The organization had estimated that the mine had to “review its project”, judging that it had not demonstrated that this option minimized “the impacts on wetlands and water”.
Despite the BAPE report, the Legault government authorized the project last year, relying on the “compensation” program proposed by the promoters for the wetlands and bodies of water that will be destroyed.
In addition to the light from the CAQ government, the mining company must also obtain the green light from the federal government, on the recommendation of Minister Steven Guilbeault.
It must be said that the Fisheries Act “prohibits the dumping or discharge of a deleterious substance, or permitting the dumping or discharge thereof, into waters frequented by fish, except under designated authorization by regulation”. The company must therefore obtain “an authorization” under the Mining Effluent Regulations, which theoretically aim to “protect the water quality of natural water bodies”.
It is within the framework of this process that the Trudeau government has just launched a “consultation” with a view to a “proposed authorization” for “the deposit of mine tailings in bodies of water frequented by fish”. It provides for a public meeting in the mining town of Fermont and another in Sept-Îles, where industry is omnipresent in the economy. The “general public” can also send comments by e-mail.
“Compensation “
Quebec Iron Ore filed two reports prepared by the firm WSP and which serve as a basis for the consultation, which should lead to a decision by Minister Guilbeault next fall. A report details the “compensation” measures that are proposed and which total investments valued at $14 million.
“The projects will make it possible to improve the habitat of the five main species of fish sought after by sports fishermen in the Côte-Nord region”, specifies the document in particular. “They will also benefit the lake Saint-Pierre yellow perch and several other species of fish, birds and amphibians. »
In a second report, the company evaluates the “alternative solutions”. Those selected for mine tailings and waste rock encroach on water environments, but to a lesser extent than the project approved by the Legault government.
It remains to be seen what Minister Guilbeault’s decision will be. According to what Environment and Climate Change Canada said on Tuesday during an information session, the various options proposed as part of the consultation will be analyzed by the government. The final decision will be made by the Treasury Board of Canada, “on the recommendation of the Minister of the Environment”.
The Quebec Better Mine Coalition, Eau Secours, the Rivières Foundation and MiningWatch Canada, which had denounced the decision of Quebec, are asking Ottawa to close the door to the use of waterways to store mine tailings.
In 2018, the ArcelorMittal mining company was authorized to increase the area of its tailings site, also in the Fermont region, in order to store around 825 million tonnes of tailings. In its report on the project, the BAPE noted that the project will result in “the destruction of 11 lakes, 15 ponds and 25 streams”. The mine has therefore planned a “restoration” program to compensate for the loss of natural environments.