AUDIO: De Beers Victor mine fails to monitor mercury risk, environmental group says – by Jody Porter (CBC News Sudbury – December 21, 2015)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/

Wildlands League calls for independent monitoring of diamond mine near Attawapiskat First Nation

Mercury contamination from the De Beers diamond mine in northern Ontario may be much higher than the company — or the provincial government — are reporting, according to a new study by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society’s Wildlands League.

De Beers denies the allegations, saying in a statement that its environmental data is often misrepresented by other parties.

The Wildlands League study, released Monday and titled Nothing to See Here…, is the result of an 18-month investigation done by the environmental group. It calls for independent environmental monitoring of De Beers Victor mine.

The key concern is that the open pit mine, located in a fragile ecosystem in the James Bay Lowlands, is contributing to the creation of methylmercury, a neurotoxin that accumulates in fish and other food sources of the people who live in the area.

“De Beers has failed to report on five out of nine surface water monitoring stations, a mandatory requirement of its permit, for the last seven years,” said Trevor Hesselink, director of Policy and Research for CPAWS Wildlands League and lead author of the special report.

“These failures to report important downstream results to the Ministry [of Environment] as required, have shocked us,” the environmental group said.

For the rest of this article and two interviews, click here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/de-beers-victor-mine-fails-to-monitor-mercury-risk-environmental-group-says-1.3371451