Sudbury: No charges to be laid against Vale after investigation of potentially toxic slag run-off – by Erik White (CBC News Sudbury – April 26, 2019)

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

Mining company currently building new drainage system to contain slag run-off

Environment Canada has decided not to lay charges against Vale for potentially dangerous run-off leaking from its Sudbury slag piles. But the mining company is currently installing a new system for controlling the slag seepage, work it says is unrelated to the government investigation.

Environment Canada refused an interview with CBC, but said in a statement that it began investigating contaminated water coming from the Sudbury slag pile after a complaint from the public in 2012.

Court documents filed to obtain a search warrant for Vale offices in 2015 allege that someone discovered green foam in a creek near the slag piles on Big Nickel Mine Road that had high levels of nickel and other metals.

Those documents also allege that the mining company was aware of toxic run-off from the slag piles as far back as 1997 and that Vale officials were uncooperative when contacted by government investigators.

Environment Canada says after receiving the complaint in the fall of 2012, it directed Vale to take immediate action, file a report detailing the measures taken to better control seepage from the slag, which it says the company did.

For the rest of this article: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/vale-environment-investigation-slag-contamination-1.5110330