The Town of Sherridon has hired a consultant to independently examine whether the province’s plan to release water from Camp Lake is safe.
Debi Hatch, a town councillor, said council has brought in hydrogeologist Mike Moncur to look into the matter.
Hatch said the province has not demonstrated to the community that it has consulted with the appropriate experts.
“Unless I see from scientists that study this [sort of issue] that it’s safe, then I’m not going to agree to them releasing [Camp Lake water] into Kississing [Lake],” she said.
Hatch said Moncur has studied Camp Lake extensively, writing several papers, including his university thesis, on the site.
“We’re not trying to stop the project. We just want to make sure it’s done safely,” she said.
Moncur is expected to deliver his final test results to council as early as next week.
He has already supplied preliminary results. According to a letter sent to the province by Chris Matheson, another Sherridon councillor, those results suggest suspended iron is in Camp Lake.
Matheson asked the province what impact suspended iron would have on fish and who will monitor the affect of the iron on the fishery of Kississing Lake.
He also asked whether further testing being commissioned by the province will involve a council representative or at least a meeting to explain what will be done moving forward.
“We feel that this would be best in repairing the rift between the parties involved,” Matheson wrote.
A government spokesperson told The Reminder that the health of Sherridon residents is imperative. The release of water from Camp Lake remains postponed while further consultation with the community takes place.
“The Manitoba government will be determining future steps after community consultation, as well as receiving the results of additional water quality samples and a report on the controlled structures at Camp Lake,” said the spokesperson. “These tests are being conducted by an independent geotechnical engineering consulting firm. The Manitoba government will be communicating the results of these tests to the community, when the results are available.”
The province has said water from Camp Lake meets guidelines for release under the federal Metal Mining Effluent Regulations, but members of council want the government to follow Protection of Aquatic Life standards instead.
The government spokesperson said water quality in Kississing Lake does not meet Protection of Aquatic Life standards due to naturally high levels of some metals in the surrounding boreal forest.
Camp Lake is a lake in Sherridon into which decades-old mine waste was dumped as part of a provincially funded remediation project that began in 2009.
Hatch said the province wants to release 500,000 cubic metres of water from Camp Lake (not 500 cubic metres, as The Reminder erroneously reported in a previous story) into the much larger Kississing Lake.
The province is worried the dam at Camp Lake will give out unless water levels are reduced, but Hatch said levels were higher last year and the community did not hear those concerns.
“If they’re so concerned about it, well, bring some sandbags up,” she said.
Hatch said the province would face strong protests if it attempted to release water from Camp Lake without the community’s blessing.
“It’s the whole town” that is concerned, she said, not just council.
In his letter, Matheson said that once Moncur’s results are available, the province will be notified of a time and location for a follow-up meeting.
