They said waste, containing cyanide, arsenic, mercury, would be stored there for 30 years while new methods were developed to clean it. Now, it’s clear it’s here to stay, in a crumbling mine, beneath an aquifer - drinking water source for millions of people.
30 years of broken promises now poisoning future generations.
Recently, Canadian politicians in a province called Alberta have complained loudly about environmental laws. Another Canadian province called Ontario passed a law allowing mining companies to bypass environmental rules. My message to Canadians is simple. Don’t make the same mistake.
The main problem here is not that toxic waste has been stored in mining tunnels.
The main problem is that there are tons of dangerous chemicals that need to be stored somewhere. It’s all residues from incinerating waste. Once we have all these waste what do we do with it ? Is there a better option than being buried deep in mining tunnels ?
We absolutely need to reduce the waste we produce.
Also, everyone should have a look at what happens to mine tailings. The prices of mining leaves begins hundreds of millions of tons of toxic material containing heavy metals like mercury, cyanide of arsenic.
The method of dealing with it is just to build a dam and store it on the surface. It contaminates the land, the water, sometimes the dam breaks and buries entire villages under toxic waste. No one really cares because most of the mining happens in third world countries, remote communities and because it is needed to feed the global consumerism way of life.