Air samples taken the day of February’s tailings dust flare-up at Hudbay show health standards were not breached, Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Environment reports.
Nonetheless, the Ministry says it will continue discussions with Hudbay to explore options aimed at reducing or preventing future “dusting” incidents.
In a statement to The Reminder, the Ministry said air samples taken Feb. 28, the day of the flare-up, showed an increased level of particulate matter but no violation of any guidelines.
The Ministry said potential solutions to prevent future incidents include modifications to how tailings are placed in the pond, possible design changes on the pond and reviewing different ways to stabilize tailings surfaces that are hard to access but prone to dusting.
At their meeting last week, Creighton town council reviewed a report detailing community air quality throughout February. It was based on air samples collected from a monitoring unit situated atop Creighton Community School.
The report found that some samples indicated elevated levels of zinc, with localized dusting observed on six dates during the month. It also mentioned the Feb. 28 flare-up involving mill and zinc tailings.
“This was the first time in four or five years, at least, that there has been any dusting of note,” said Ald. Don Aasen when asked about the report. “I’ve gotta commend Hudbay for the job they have done in keeping the dusting to a minimum.”
Aasen added that council does not usually receive the air-quality report unless there is an incident of note.
The Reminder first reported on the Feb. 28 flare-up last month after a concerned citizen provided a video of a red cloud of dust hovering over the tailings pond near Creighton. The red hue was the result of zinc tailings.
Hudbay told The Reminder shortly after the incident that company personnel and contractors took action to mitigate the dusting event.
The company said the incident stemmed from weather conditions over the previous three days, which saw a melt of surface tailings followed by a sharp drop in temperatures and 50-plus km/h winds.
The result was sublimation – ice transforming from a solid to a gas – at the surface, which exposed fine particles that were picked up by the wind, Hudbay said.
– With files from Libby Stoker-Lavelle
