Photo: Jacques Boissinot Archives The Canadian Press Ottawa has just approved the destruction of 37 waterways, including lakes, to allow the company Ore de fer Québec to dump hundreds of millions of tons of mining waste there over the coming years.
Stéphane Blais – The Canadian Press
Posted at 4:18 p.m. Updated at 6:27 p.m.
- Canada
Environmental groups denounce the destruction of 37 bodies of water to store mining residues on the North Shore, but this environmental damage is necessary for the realization of a project which will contribute to the energy transition, according to Canada's Minister of the Environment, Steven Guilbeault.
Ore iron Quebec, owner of the Bloom Lake mine, located approximately 13 km northwest of Fermont, has received approval from the federal government to proceed with the destruction of dozens of bodies of water in order to expand its tailings and waste storage areas at its mining site.
“There are impacts of going to mine critical minerals and different components that we will need for the energy transition”, but “the electrification of our transport and the electrification of our industries will make it possible to reduce our dependence on oil which will make it possible to reduce the impact of climate change”, reacted Minister Guilbeault when The Canadian Press l 'questioned the reasons for destroying these lakes on Thursday.
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- Ottawa authorizes the destruction of 37 waterways in Quebec to store mining residues
1,560,000 square meters
According to a federal government document published July 3 in the Canada Gazette, the mining company's new tailings storage facilities will destroy “37 bodies of water where fish live”, which represents an area of 156 hectares, or 1,560,000 square meters.
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000< p>The Fisheries Act prohibits the discharge of harmful substances into waters frequented by fish, unless authorized by the government.
“The principle that we use in this case is the principle of compensation which is a principle that has existed for some time in environmental matters,” recalled Minister Steven Guilbeault, adding that “the project promoter must undertake to compensate, through protection, the equivalent of what it destroys, in another place.”
Minerai de fer Québec proposed “seven projects targeting nine distinct sites” as compensation.
These projects “will support the conservation and protection of fish and fish habitat” and provide “ecological benefits commensurate with the effects “harms resulting from the loss of fish habitat caused by the use of water bodies for the deposit of mine tailings”, we can read in the document published in the Canada Gazette.
Strong reactions from environmental groups
Members of the Rivières Foundation, Eau Secours, the Quebec Association of Physicians for the Environment and other organizations signed a letter denouncing the federal government's decision.
They argue that the destruction of lakes is a “practice that has been gradually abandoned or outright banned almost everywhere across the world, given its devastating nature, and given the fact that a less damaging alternative exists , or the backfilling of mining pits using the waste that these pits generate.”
These organizations also recalled that the commission of inquiry of the Bureau d'audiences public authorities on the environment (BAPE) had asked Ore iron Quebec to review its project in 2021.
“Unfortunately for ecosystems and for the populations who depend on them and demand their protection, it is in the name of preserving a presumed mineral potential – therefore highly speculative economic interests at this stage – that alternatives like the backfilling of the pits have been ruled out and the destruction of lakes and watercourses in this part of the territory has been authorized”, lamented Émile Cloutier-Brassard, responsible for mining files at Eau Secours.
“Allowing the destruction of a lake by burying toxic mining waste in it remains an environmental crime. No measure can compensate for this crime,” said Daniel Green, of the Society to Overcome Pollution.
MFQ almost wants double its iron production
Ore iron Quebec (MFQ) has operated the Bloom Lake mine since February 2018 and produces 7.5 million tonnes (Mt) of iron concentrate annually.
Mining intends to increase its annual production from 7.5 Mt to 16 Mt, with exploitation of the deposit until 2040.
According to the document published on July 3 by the federal government , it is because of this increase in production that “195 million cubic meters (Mm3) of waste rock and 213 Mm3 of coarse tailings will be generated and will have to be stored in new facilities”.