Time to clean up the toxic bog in Grass River Provincial Park

Friday, July 25, 2014

July 25, 2014

In January 2013, Hudbay Minerals applied for a licence to operate a new mine in Grass River Provincial Park, just a few kilometres from the site of the company’s old Spruce Point mine. You may remember the site from this video we produced in 2012.

Naturally, Hudbay's treatment of the Spruce Point site, and the lasting toxic legacy they have left, came to light during the application process for the new mine. How could we trust this company to take care of the lands and waters of our park, we argued, if they’ve already demonstrated the mess they will leave behind?

In April of 2013, in an audacious move, Hudbay hosted a private dinner meeting for those who objected to the mine, and fed them all sorts of info about how well the company operates. In the near four-hour meeting, they took time to address the issues we raised in our Spruce Point video. Except for one issue – the bubbling pond. There is a lifeless pond at the edge of their old industrial site, completely void of vegetation. And it’s bubbling.

Last October, I walked into the forest in Grass River Provincial Park to visit the site of the old Spruce Point mine. I was here to see how well Hudbay had cleaned up the site, after we publicized the mess left in our park.

I stepped over wolf droppings on the road, and I followed a moose trail to the pond I was looking for. This time, I saw no bubbles. But I also saw that no work had been done here, no vegetation had grown in this area of the bog, and the shore was still covered with weird crystal growth. After documenting the site and scooping up some water, I was off.

We released the results of the water quality test this week, ahead of International Bog Day on July 27. According to MiningWatch Canada, who analyzed the test results, the water was “extremely toxic and well above established guidelines for the protection of aquatic life for eleven different parameters.”

This is a mess. Manitobans want and deserve better care of our parks, and of our water.

We’ve formally asked Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger to enforce the cleanup of this site, and to make sure Hudbay Minerals – not the provincial government – pays for the cleanup. The Wilderness Committee is also reiterating the call to END ALL INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY IN PROVINCIAL PARKS! I can hardly stress enough how important this is.

You can reach the Premier yourself at premier@leg.gov.mb.ca if you wish to voice your opinion on this.

For the wild,

Eric Reder | Campaign Director