The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
By Jonathon Naylor Hudbay CEO David Garofalo was recently asked if the company 'is ever going to do anything' to clean up its tailings pond just outside Creighton. 'Well, you know what? That guarantees employment,' Garofalo replied during a question-and-answer session at the R.H. Channing Auditorium. 'If we don't have somewhere to put our waste, we won't have a mine. So I would expect our tailings facility will be there for quite a long time because I hope we find more (mines).' Everyone can share Garofalo's hope that the tailings pond _ essentially a massive pool of pollutants left over from ore processing _ is needed in our area for decades to come. But his answer was awfully reminiscent of what residents used to say a generation or two ago when health concerns over noxious smelter smoke would surface. Someone would express unease with the potent puffs of smoke they were breathing in, and most people would shrug. Perhaps they would say, 'That smoke means jobs!' or 'Shut up or the company will close!' As time moved on and we learned more about the volume and nature of those stack-spewed pollutants, attitudes began to shift. Legitimate health worries superseded worst-case scenarios. By the time the copper smelter closed in June 2010, few appeared willing to stand up and fight for its continued operation. Several residents even went before CTV and Global cameras to essentially say, 'Good riddance!' No reasonable person is calling for the tailings pond to be shut down, or for Hudbay to spend another several million dollars to move it even further outside Creighton. Misgivings Yet even though Hudbay has spent big bucks on improvements and beautification, and even though it meets all government regulations, it is not fallacious to have misgivings about the tailings pond. MiningWatch definitely does. The industry watchdog is not entirely comfortable with mine waste when it is stored near communities or in places where it may come into contact with wildlife. 'These (tailings ponds) are places where tonnes and tonnes of toxic waste are being stored, so certainly there's cause for concern,' the organization's Ramsey Hart told The Reminder previously. MiningWatch sued the federal government to have tailings pond data from Canadian companies released to the public. The 2010 stats (2011 is not yet available) show Hudbay Flin Flon ranks among the nation's heaviest generators of mine waste in five toxic categories: arsenic, zinc, lead, cadmium and copper. Making tailings information accessible, Hart argued, creates 'a clearer picture' of the risks that may stem from mining, allowing the public to weigh the industry's pros and cons. Hart is correct. We all have a right to see this data, and the fact that it took a lawsuit to make it so speaks poorly of our elected officials. Now, even with governments overseeing mining companies and the various aspects of their operations, MiningWatch's worries over tailings ponds persist. It is up to governments of all levels to pay attention to those concerns and ensure these disposal sites _ whether in our area our beyond _ pose no real risks. Local Angle runs Fridays.
