Media Release - January 9, 2013

Minister Mackintosh’s office to receive letters at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday

WINNIPEG - This morning, the Wilderness Committee will deliver over 830 letters to Manitoba’s Minister of Conservation Gord Mackintosh, urging the provincial government to ban peat mining in Manitoba. Hundreds of letters have been collected over the past few months, in addition to the thousands of Manitobans who contacted the government in early 2012, objecting to a peat strip mine in Hecla / Grindstone Provincial Park.

Peat mining negatively affects water quality by releasing sediment into streams and creeks feeding Lake Winnipeg. The mining of peat also releases a tremendous storehouse of carbon, which contributes to devastating climate change.

“People are concerned about our water and our climate,” said Eric Reder, Campaign Director for the Wilderness Committee. “Manitobans see a solution to these looming environmental disasters, and banning peat mining is part of it.”

On the shores of Lake Winnipeg, there are currently two outstanding peat licence appeals awaiting decisions -- waiting for nearly two years. There are also two new peat licence applications awaiting decisions, including one in Hecla / Grindstone Provincial Park. The government stated they would make a decision on these peat licences in the fall of 2012. Another contentious licence application that could potentially be approved in the future is located within the City of Winnipeg’s drinking watershed.

“It is time for the Manitoba government to listen to Manitobans and ban peat mining,” said Reder. “We can’t afford to continue the destruction of our water and our climate -- they are too important for us to sacrifice.”
 

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For more information contact:

Eric Reder, Manitoba Campaign Director, Wilderness Committee - (204) 997–8584