Mining in Remote Areas Issues and Impacts - MiningWatch Canada

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Health andSafetyShifting ground blamed67for blast (Vancouver Sun,12/24/91, A3)Eleven workers at the Sa Dena Heslead-zinc mine in the Yukon were injuredas they slept in their bunkhousetrailer. Ground movement, caused bychanging temperatures, ruptured propanepipes, spilling gas beneath thetrailer. The gas was likely ignited by afurnace-pilot light or the furnace itself.Coroner calls for better68 training for miners after5 deaths (Montreal Gazette,07/24/96)All five of the deaths resulted whenminers were crushed by falling rocks.Only 14 of 40 mines offer training programsin Quebec. In Ontario, whereminers are required to take extensivetraining, accidents have dropped by 21percent.The coroner, Gilles Perron, wants allminers to be trained, and he wants Quebecto set up a mining school in northwesternQuebec. Perron also urged thework-safety commission to make suresub-contractors respect Quebec safetyrules.Survivor of mine cave-in69 wants more training(Victoria Times Colonist,11/18/98, E7)Quinsam Coal miner Michael Pearo saidhe considered suicide during the terrifyingmoments after 600 tonnes of rockfell from the roof of a mine shaft, trappinghim and killing two co-workers.Pearo was working near Darrell Ralphand Wayne Campbell on Jan. 16 whenhe was knocked unconscious by thehuge slab of rock that fell from the roof.Ralph and Campbell were killed whenthe rock trapped them inside a continuousmining machine.Pearo told a five-member jury at aninquest into the accident that thereshould be legislation ensuring moretraining for people working undergroundin the coal industry.that are only projected to operate fora few years, which discourages thecreation of new mining towns andencourages the trend toward flyingin workers.TrainingFollowing the deaths of five minersin separate accidents in Quebec,Coroner Gilles Perron concluded thatthe province’s miners need bettertraining.(68) Perron said work methodsare a factor in 90 percent of accidentsunderground.The miners’ union said the cor o-ner’s report underlines the lack ofconcern by mining companies for employees.“Clear signals of dangerwere ignored by the supervisors so asnot to reduce production,” said ArnoldDugas, director of the UnitedSteelworkers of America.At an inquest into an accidentthat killed two miners at the Quinsamcoal mine on Vancouver Island,miner Michael Pearo who survivedthe accident called for more trainingfor those working underground.“They should be well-trained,” hesaid. “ ... It should be under provinciallaw.” (69)DeregulationIf employers do not always haveworker safety foremost in mind, atleast government safety inspectorshave the ability to halt operationsthat pose a potential danger to workers.Or at least that used to be thecase.In a disturbing trend, governmentsacross the country are cuttingback on occupational health andsafety enforcement. In Alberta, morethan half of the health and safety inspectorswere laid off, leaving employersto essentially inspect and policethemselves. Similarly, in Ontario,the Ministry of Labour hasdownsized to the point where inspectorscan’t afford to visit remote minesites.(60)This trend has labour activists inCanada very concerned.“Deregulation kills people. It’s assimple as that,” said Andy King, nationalhealth and safety coordinatorfor the United Steelworkers of America.(60)“Business people are gamblers,”says Vern Edwards, a safety officialwith the Ontario Federation of Labour.“They’ll cut corners on healthand safety for the sake of productionand profits and just cross their fingersnothing happens. Unfortunately,they’re not the ones who paythe price of losing that gamble.”(60)Conclusions: A LongRoad AheadTo a certain extent, the healthand safety effects suffered by minersand mine and smelting communitiesare inherent to the industry and themine environment. Yet many of theworst impacts could be mitigated orprevented with appropriate workplaceinvestments.The long and often bloody historyof mining has produced some strongand progressive labour unions. Mineworkers and their families areamong the first to feel the impact ofpoorly designed mines. Over theyears, labour activism has been themost important force in improvingthe safety of the mine environment.However, the shocking alleg a-tions of company and governmentnegligence that came out in the Westrayinquiry underscore the distancethe mining industry still has tocome.The continued failure of companieslike Royal Oak at their GiantMine to address the health impactsof their operations speaks of an industrythat is in too many cases stillfocused on profit at the expense ofworkers and communities.22 MiningWatch Canada
TEnvironmental Assessmenthis package has so far dealt with the impacts associatedwith mining developments. However, there are opportunitiesfor identifying potential impacts before mines are developed.During the exploration stage, permits to dig, divert water,and so on, must be obtained. At the mineral development stage,however, all major mining projects in Canada have to gothrough an environmental assessment (EA) process to determineif and how development should proceed.Background: theOrigins Of EAEnvironmental assessment inCanada was created to ensure thatenvironmental concerns are adequatelyconsidered in decision making.Unfortunately, the current stateof EA processes in Canadahas been thesubject of substantialcriticism andincreasing cynicismfrom manystakeholders.Twenty yearsago, the BergerInquiry set thestandard for EAsin Canada. JusticeThomasBerger establishedthat:“environment”must includehuman socialand cultural concerns; all those affectedhave a right to a fair hearingand to have their concerns incorporatedinto the decision making process;and traditional knowledgeshould be combined with Westernscience-based information to providethe best possible information basefor decision making. He also made itclear that none of this could be accomplishedwithout adequate timefor a thorough review.(70)Impacts are best dealt with before the pit isdugSince Berger, there hasn’t been asingle assessment conducted in Canadathat has met the standards ofthe Berger Inquiry.(43)Presently in Canada, all provincesand the federal governmenthave EA legislation. North of 60°, thefederal process generally applies;however, theEA regime inthe territoriescontinues toevolve throughthe ongoingsettlement ofland claimsand selfgovernmentagreements.(71)For all otherregions, theresponsibilityfor regulatingand assessingmining oper a-tions rests with provincial gover n-ments. Occasionally, mining projectsin the provinces also require federalapproval (for example, when mineproposals include the destruction oralteration of fish habitat). When thisis the case, the two EA processes areusually merged or “harmonized,” tosave time and costs for all partiesinvolved.EnvironmentalAssessmentArticles with underlined titles areavailable as reprints from Mining-Watch Canada..Justice Thomas Berger.70 Northern Frontier,Northern Homeland: thereport of the Mackenzie ValleyPipeline Inquiry, Volume 1(Ottawa: DIAND, 1977)Marbek Resources Consultants.1998. Guide to infor-71mation requirements forthe environmental assessmentof mining projects in Canada(prepared for Environment Canada,the Canandian Environmental AssessmentAgency, and Natural ResourcesCanada)This report documents the legislativerequirements for EA of mining projectsin Canada. It also outlines the informationthat companies must produce tomeet the requirements of the EA process.Killer Gold permit stirs72 court action (Alternatives,v.21(2), 1995, p. 11)The Yukon Conservation Society (YCS)is suing the federal government for itsrefusal to require a comprehensive env i-ronmental assessment of explorationwork on a block of mineral claims in theYukon. Jennifer Ellis, executive directorof YCS says, “allowing mineral explorationin this area is appalling whenwolves are being killed to ease pressureson the local caribou. Almost 100wolves have been killed so far in thename of protecting this caribou herd,yet the federal government is refusingto even consider the environmental impactsof a mining proposal that couldhave severe repercussions for the herd.”Conservation group73 launches lawsuits challengingWestmin miningin Yukon (Vancouver Sun,05/26/94, C10)The Canadian Parks and WildernessSociety (CPAWS) has initiated two lawsuitsaimed at the federal governmentand Westmin Resources, which is exploringits mineral claim near the BonnetPlume River in the Yukon. CPAWS saysthe Department of Indian and NorthernAffairs allows mining companies to log,Mining In Remote Areas: Issues and Impacts 23
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