As crews prepared to release water from Camp Lake into Kississing Lake last week, Sherridon town council and residents went into action.
As of press time on Friday the work had come to a halt in a show of good faith by government officials who had been preparing to release the water beginning at 4 pm on Wednesday.
Community members had raised concern about water from Camp Lake, which contains acidic mine tailings, being released into Kississing Lake, where children swim and fish are caught and consumed.
On hand at the site Wednesday were members of Sherridon town council, who took samples of the water to be tested independently by ALS lab in Winnipeg. It is expected that the results of those tests will be returned early next week.
Until such time that the test results have been returned and analyzed,
Dr. Chris Beaumont-Smith, director of mines for the Manitoba government, has agreed to postpone the work.
“We don’t have anything in writing; nothing is official,” explained Debi Hatch, a nurse in the area who also sits on town council. “But we are hopeful that they will stick to their word and wait for our test results to come back.”
Flin Flon MLA Clarence Pettersen was also at the site, and he and Beaumont-Smith attended the regular council meeting on Wednesday evening to address the issue. A number of concerned citizens were in attendance and brought forward health concerns related to the release of the water.
Beaumont-Smith confirmed that the water from Camp Lake would not be released into Kississing Lake until the independent test results were returned.
“We will not be discharging any water until the test results come back,” he said, explaining that this round of testing is being done independently by the Town of Sherridon and is in addition to testing already completed by the provincial government.
Hatch told The Reminder that the initial testing found the water in Camp Lake met the Metal Mining Effluent Regulations but not the Canadian Guidelines for Protection of Aquatic Life.
“Kississing Lake doesn’t meet that standard,” Beaumont-Smith said, referring to the body of water currently being used recreationally by residents.
Camp Lake meets the federal discharge guidelines, according to Beaumont-Smith.
He reported that the site meets the Canadian drinking water guidelines, and that Manitoba Water Stewardship and Environment Canada are “aware of what we’re doing and have no issue with our plan.”
“The water will only be discharged if it meets the federal guidelines, and it does,” he said.
The discoloration of the water in Camp Lake is due to a high iron content, which is not considered a contaminant, according to Beaumont-Smith.
He explained that the water needs to be released to take the pressure off a dam separating the two bodies of water.
“We are worried about an uncontrolled release of water in a major storm,” he said, adding that issues arose at the Mount Polley mine in British Columbia last August when an uncontrolled release of water occurred.
Government officials have been in consultation with the community of Sherridon throughout the project, beginning with a consultation in February. Consultation with the community will continue when Beaumont-Smith returns to Sherridon on Monday.
“I’m confident that once the community better understands the situation they will see the need to move forward with the project,” he said.
