The Kamloops Area Preservation Association has asked the province to develop the follow-up to the former Afton mine/Ajax proposal south of Aberdeen due to Peterson Creek’s “lower water quality” downstream.
The association, which opposed the request for the Ajax gold and copper mine, which was eventually rejected by the federal and provincial governments, hired a hydrogeologist who knew expanding degrees of mining-related elements, which raised considerations about environmental impacts, i. e. drinking water. , irrigation water and wildlife.
“There is a lot of mining waste, like 50 million tons of mining waste, and then they are on the ground, which is low-law ore that has not been used, which is still stored there,” KAPA President Paula Pick said. , expressing concern. It leaks into groundwater and contaminates Peterson Creek. “All this is pretty serious . . . It’s just not the right type and it can get worse. “
Pick stated that KAPA hired Kevin Morin from the Surrey Mine Site Drainage Assessment Group last year after running with him to review the environmental effect of the Ajax mine on the evaluation request. Mine.
Morin’s report was published on Sunday, October 4, late due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the time is now tied to provincial elections, Pick said, adding that KAPA sought to disseminate provincial election campaign data.
The deal paid $4,000 for the review, which According to Pick was funded through The Western Mining Action Network.
Morin, who spoke to KTW by phone from Surrey, decided that permit needs for the old mine were inadequate, did not protect Peterson Creek from contamination at the mine site and did not protect the expansion of Peterson Creek contamination through the mine site – Derivative Elements Said BC had replaced groundwater protection regulations until a few years ago , when it introduced regulations to protect water not visible on land.
Morin claimed that lakes and streams are connected underground through groundwater and that groundwater and surface water cannot be separated because they are linked. He evaluated Afton’s former mining license and claimed that it allowed 25 cubic meters of minewater to leak into unattended soil, despite a giant aquifer beneath Peterson Creek.
He has presented several years of knowledge through the owner of Ajax KGHM to the province about the water collected at Lake Jacko and a few kilometers downstream.
The report indicates that water samples taken from Peterson Creek grow beyond British Columbia. Water recommendations for arsenic, selenium, uranium, molybdenum, copper, sulfate and nitrate.
“Water quality on the mine site, concentrations are low and, for some reason, are declining,” Morin said. “But when you pass the mine site, the pollution of the stream worsens, the concentrations increase. If you have a stream flowing from one point to another, the only way the concentration can be low upriver, and then, as it progresses downstream, concentrations increase, is something between the problems that add pollution to the stream, and the only thing between the two problems is the old mine site.
When asked what he thought of contaminating the creek at the site of the old mine, Morin said it was similar to rock blasting and said the remains are very reactive.
“It releases arsenic into the water and cadmium into the water and mercury into the water and all those elements go in there,” he said. “When rainwater passes through it, all those contaminants pass into the water and then the water passes somewhere. “
They die under pressure that infected water is not for drinking, cannot be used for irrigation and can damage aquatic life.
Choose reported grades higher than B. C. Water quality and drinking water recommendations in Knutsford. She is involved in the well network, adding the Kamloops RV Campground and the Knutsford Knoll development.
The leader of the Skeetchestn Indian Band, Ron Ignatius, the report “puzzling”, pointing out the effects on the Thompson River, into which Peterson Creek flows.
“The environment and the salmon that goes up in the water are affected by these pollutants, and then we turn around and eat that salmon,” Ignatius said. “It’s rising in the food chain. In addition, it is very healthy for the environment. »
Morin said the pollution had gotten worse. He therefore suggested that the province review the KGHM license. Suggested reviews include monthly measurements of current and chemistry, groundwater grades and chemistry, and monitoring of 20 surrounding wells. It also asks the province to compare monthly values with guidelines, rather than annual averages to guidelines, due to seasonal spikes.
KAPA has written to the province’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy, asking the province “significantly for its water monitoring conditions”. Pick said the branch had not replied yet.
The province is in the middle of an election campaign, and the electorate will attend the polls on 24 October.
KTW has contacted the Department of Environment and Climate Change Strategy and is awaiting comments. He has also contacted Abacus and KGHM, owners of the mine, and is also waiting for a response.
When asked if B. C. are a suggestion or a requirement, Morin said:
“In the United States, that would be the law. In Canada, we have rules that if you get over them, you can get in trouble and the passing government isn’t happy. But this is not enshrined in the law, where you can then be dragged into court and prosecuted. There are two other approaches in Canada and the United States. In Canada, water and drinking water quality are rules or criteria that you will have to meet, and if not, the passing government begins to look at it.