Conservation Biology in the Boreal
HOW DOES NEWFOUNDLAND and LABRADOR COMPARE??
Tailings and Mining Effluent
The major concern involved with this project was the use of a nearby lake (Trout Pond) and unnamed headwater lake on the tributary to Gill’s Pond Brook as a Tailings Management Areas (TMA). Converting these areas into TMAs could possibly have resulted in the elimination of viable ecosystems. Specifically, this includes Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) populations present in Trout Pond which were healthy in 2007 before mining operations began. In addition, Trout Pond provided habitat for birds such as osprey (Pandion haliaetus), mergansers (Mergus merganser), and loons (Gavia immer). (2)
Development of the copper-zinc-lead mine in central Newfoundland, known as the Aur Resources’ Duck Pond project near Buchans, achieved commercial production as of 2007 (although Aur resources has been bought out by Teck Resources Limited©). By 2013, Duck Pond mining operations will make a transition to open-pit mining, with mining operations expiring by 2015. (1)
A major issue of pollution concerning the mining activities is Acid Mine Drainage (AMD). AMD occurs when sulphide-bearing minerals in rock are exposed to air and water. In effect, this changes the sulphide to sulphuric acid which dissolves heavy metals such as lead, zinc, and copper in ground and surface water. These, in addition to elevated suspended solids, low pH, and other contaminants are all viable pollution factors resulting from Duck Pond mining activities. (3)
In terms of conservation and prevention efforts, little to nothing has been done. In the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), it is stated that “the residual environmental effects of the project on fish and fish habitat are assessed as minor. The proposed project is therefore not likely to have significant adverse environmental effects on fish and fish habitat.” (2)
In addition, DFO have accepted that the project would not have significant environmental effects and requested to Environment Canada that Trout Pond be added to schedule 2. The Fisheries Act is clear in that deleterious substances cannot be discharged into fish bearing waters or fish habitats be destroyed. Weakening the influence of the Fisheries Act has the opportunity for economic considerations to override environment and conservation concerns. (2)
What is Schedule 2?
Under the federal Fisheries Act, it is illegal to pollute any fish habitat. However, the minister responsible has the power to list any body of water under Schedule 2, at which point it will no longer be recognised as fish habitat, instead being listed as a Tailings Impoundment Area (TIA). When a body of water is listed, dumping is legal and the company responsible cannot be sued for contamination of the lake.
Trout Pond
Sandy Pond
Another example is that of Sandy Pond, which is planned to be used as a tailings impoundment area for the Vale Inco hydrometallurgical plant in Long Harbour.
Sandy Pond contains a vibrant ecosystem including genetically distinct populations of trout, which are highly prized, and American eel (Anguilla rostrata), which are classified as Threatened by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC). Like Trout Pond, Sandy Pond has been reclassified as a tailings impoundment area under Schedule 2, exempting it from the protection normally given to fish habitat under the Fisheries Act. (4)
A plan was approved to replace the destroyed fish habitat under DFO's "no net loss" policy, and 1400 fish were removed from the pond and placed into nearby lakes. The recovery plan has been criticised by environmental groups as inadequate, and the Sandy Pond case triggered a precedent-setting court case challenging Schedule 2; the verdict for this court case has not yet been delivered. (5)
Sandy Pond (source)