Court Orders Canada to Report Pollution Data for Mines

OTTAWA, Canada, April 27, 2009 (ENS) - The Federal Court of Canada has ruled that the Canadian government must stop withholding data on one of the country's largest sources of pollution - millions of metric tonnes of toxic mine tailings and waste rock from mining operations.

The ruling came late Thursday in a case brought by two environmental groups - Great Lakes United and Mining Watch Canada - represented by Ecojustice, a public interest law firm.

"This is a huge decision for environmental justice in Canada," said Ecojustice lawyer Justin Duncan.

Fellow Ecojustice lawyer Marlene Cashin said, "The court has unequivocally upheld the right of Canadians to know when the health of their communities and the environment is under threat from one of the country's largest sources of toxic pollution."

The Federal Court sided with the environmental groups and issued an Order demanding that the federal government immediately begin publicly reporting mining pollution data from 2006 onward to the National Pollutant Release Inventory, NPRI.

Vale Inco's nickel mine in Voisey's Bay, Labrador. (Photo courtesy Vale Inco)

The decision describes the Canadian government's pace as "glacial" and scolds the government for turning a "blind eye" to the issue and dragging its feet for "more than 16 years."

In their arguments, the groups alleged that the Minister of Environment broke the law when he failed to collect and report this pollution information from mines in Canada under the National Pollutant Release Inventory.

"This is a victory that should be celebrated from Smithers to Voisey's Bay," said MiningWatch Canada spokesman Jamie Kneen. "The public has a right to know what kind of toxic liabilities are being created every day."

"It's always been bizarre to us that the mining industry should not face the same reporting requirements as every other industrial sector, and we're pleased that the Court agreed with us," said Kneen.

By contrast, since 1998, the U.S. government has required mining companies to report all pollutants under the American equivalent of the NPRI, the Toxics Release Inventory, TRI.

In 2005, the 72 mines reporting to the TRI released more than 500 million kilograms of mine tailings and waste rock - accounting for 27 percent of all U.S. pollutants reported.

With the Federal Court of Canada decision, pollution data from Canada's 80 metal mining facilities must reported under the National Pollutant Release Inventory.

But achieving that outcome is a complex undertaking says Justine Laurie-Lean, vice president, environment and health, with the Mining Association of Canada. The association, a trade industry group, had intervenor status but was not a party to the lawsuit.

"We are committed to transparency, but we did not feel that the NPRI is the right mechanism to use in reporting this information. But the court has ruled that it should be part of the NPRI, so we will work with the government to comply," Laurie-Lean told ENS in an interview.

The De Beers Canada Victor Mine, located in northern Ontario, is the province's first diamond mine. (Photo courtesy De Beers Canada Corporation)

"The NPRI is general, not sector specific, so trying to figure out how to make this work is going to take some time, and be intensive," she said.

Established in 1992, Canada's National Pollutant Release Inventory requires annual disclosure of pollutant releases into the environment by major facilities, but it is not specific by industrial sector. It is a general reporting mechanism, and with this ruling, the court has ordered a change in how that will be defined.

The Toxic Release Inventory in the United States specifies what kind of facility will report, but NPRI does not, Laurie-Lean explained. "You're included if you meet various threshold criteria unless you're specifically exempt."

"Our sector has been reporting in the past on releases from the facilities such as tailings leaks and dust, that has been reported," she said.

Two levels of government are involved in making the changes required by the court ruling.

In Canada, the NPRI falls under Environment Canada, a federal agency, while mining industry operations are regulated by the provincial and territorial governments. However, effluents from metal mines are regulated federally, but individual territories or provinces can set more stringent regulations.

The next move is up to the federal government. The Minister of Environment will decide whether or not to appeal the ruling, and if it is not to be appealed, to decide how the NPRI will be restructured to comply with the court's decision.

"This is an issue we have been working on for a very long time," said Laurie-Lean. "It has been discussed in the multi-stakeholder program for more than a decade."

Meanwhile, the Canadian public has been in the dark about what pollutants are being emitted by metal mines, said John Jackson of the plaintiff group Great Lakes United.

"Canadians living in places like Sudbury, with mining operations in their backyards, were blindfolded while millions of kilograms of carcinogens and heavy metals accumulated in tailings ponds and waste rock piles across the country," Jackson said. "With this decision, the blindfold comes off and citizens can truly hold these companies to account for their pollution and the environmental and health dangers they pose."

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