http://www.montrealgazette.com/index.html
Quebec’s environmental watchdog, the BAPE, has recommended the provincial environment minister not approve a controversial phosphate rock mine in Sept-Îles “in its current form.”
The report from the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement, made public on Wednesday, says the mining company, Mine Arnaud Inc., has not provided enough convincing evidence that its proposed open pit mine won’t contaminate nearby waterways or cause landslides.
“This is only the second time in 30 years that the BAPE has rejected a mining project for environmental reasons,” said Ugo Lapointe of Québec meilleure mine, a coalition of groups critical of Quebec’s mining industry. “It’s a very harsh judgment on this project.”
The Arnaud Mine, a joint project between Investissement Québec and a Norwegian firm called Yara international ASA, would produce apatite, a type of phosphate rock used to make agricultural fertilizer. Mine proponents said it would directly create about 330 permanent jobs, and another 425 indirectly, and otherwise stimulate the economy of the Sept-Îles region during the next 23 years.
At almost a kilometre wide, 3.7 kms long, and 240 metres deep, the mine would be the largest open pit mine in an inhabited area in Quebec. The pit would be only seven kilometres from downtown Sept-Îles, and about 500 metres from certain homes and from Highway 138, so there are concerns about landslides and land shifting caused by dynamite and other mining activity.
Hundreds of residents signed a petition and many showed up at BAPE hearings in August and September to say they were against the project because of quality-of-life concerns and environmental impacts, such as water contamination, air pollution and noise.
For the rest of this article, click here: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Environmental+watchdog+urges+rejection+Sept+%C3%8Eles+mining/9527253/story.html