'Toxic' Manitoba bog needs to be cleaned up: Wilderness Committee
Winnipeg Sun
A Manitoba environmental group is calling on Premier Greg Selinger to clean up a northern provincial park wetland they claim was left polluted with heavy metals from mining for over 20 years.
The Grass River Provincial Park has been heralded as a success story when it comes to mine remediation, but the Wildnerness Committee says it’s anything but.
“This site is particularly egregious and the fact that it’s been left this long is of particular concern,” said Eric Reder, campaign director with the Wilderness Committee.
According to the Wilderness Committee, toxicity tests conducted on water from the site of the decommissioned mine in Grass River Provincial Park has revealed serious and ongoing water quality issues, including extremely high concentrations of several toxic substances that pose a threat to aquatic life.
Water samples were collected from a bog at the former Spruce Point Mine site, and were assessed by an independent lab in Winnipeg, committee members said. The mine was operated by HudBay Minerals until it was closed in 1993.
The Wilderness Committee has put in a formal request the provincial government enforce the cleanup of this site, and to make sure HudBay Minerals pays for the cleanup. The request coincides with International Bog Day on Sunday.
The group said the provincial government and the company have been heralding the site as a success story in mine cleanup.
“We don’t think this is a wonderful job cleaning it up,” said Reder, who returned to the site last October to take water samples.
After reviewing the water sample test results, MiningWatch Canada confirmed the water was “extremely toxic and well above established guidelines for the protection of aquatic life for 11 different parameters.”
