Lakes as private garbage dumps On March 22, World Water Day, the Council of Canadians will join forces with Mining Watch, CUPE BC, the Tsilhqot'in National Government and several British Columbia-based organizations to demand that the federal government reject an application by Vancouver-based Taseko Mines Limited for a massive open pit gold-copper mine near Williams Lake that would destroy the Teztan Biny (Fish Lake) watershed. To the Tsilhqot'in, who have lived on the land for thousands of years, the lake is sacred. In addition to being an important source of food security for the community that continues to fish and hunt in the area, it is an important part of their cultural and spiritual heritage. The Tsilhqot'in National Government has rejected Taseko's proposal to drain the lake in order to stockpile rock waste. The Council of Canadians sees this struggle as emblematic of the federal government's failure to recognize water as a human right and a public resource. To allow a mining company to turn a lake into its private garbage dump is the height of water privatization in Canada. Taseko is taking advantage of a new loophole in the Fisheries Act called 'schedule 2', which allows mining companies to apply to have lakes redefined as 'tailings impoundment areas' thereby eliminating all protections of the Act, which would normally prohibit the dumping of toxins into fish-bearings waters. A rally will take place in Williams Lake on March 22 where public hearings are being held by the federal panel reviewing Taseko's proposal. The Council of Canadians and its Williams Lake chapter have both made submissions and are requesting to speak at the hearings. Meanwhile, Taseko is demanding that a film containing testimonials from members of the Tsilhqot'in nation not be shown at the hearings. To view the film, please go to: http://www.canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=2994 Also on March 22, the St. John's Newfoundland chapter will work with other allies to raise awareness on the need to protect Sandy Pond which has already been designated a tailings impoundment area for a nickel mining project by Vale Inco. The Council of Canadians is working with activists in Newfoundland on a legal challenge against schedule 2. If we are succesful, this will put an end to the practice of using lakes as dumpsites. To see the Council of Canadians' submission on Teztan Biny, please go to: http://www.canadians.org/water/issues/TIAs/teztan-biny.html To learn more about lakes being turned into toxic dumpsites, please visit: http://www.canadians.org/water/issues/TIAs/index.html
Potash Mine drying wells in Penobsquis Communities across the country are dealing with water contamination and shortages that are a result of unsustainable industrial development. For the past several years, 60 residents of Penobsquis New Brunswick have had their wells dry up. They attribute this to the activities of a potash mine owned by the New Brunswick subsidiary of the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, but the government has failed to investigate the situation. In the meantime, drinking water to the affected homes is supplied by the potash mine, while the government of New Brunswick provides water for other uses. The Council of Canadians received the below entry from a resident who has been active in the struggle to protect local water resources. Potash Mine drying wells in Penobsquis In 2004, life in my small rural community started changing in a way that is difficult to describe. More than 60 homes lost their well water that year. Until you have lived without water, and have no way you can think of to get a regular supply, you can't imagine what it is like. When the first wells were lost, most in the community just thought it was an anomaly. But as the numbers increased , people began to suspect that it might have something to do with the Potash Mine in the area. Many homes drilled 2nd, or even 3rd wells at their own expense. Others had their wells deepened. Washing machines and taps were broken due to the sediment from riley water. Homes that lost their wells were directly over the mining shafts and stopes that are between 350 & 450m beneath the surface. At this time a local Potash Mine was doing seismic testing to explore for new potash reserves, which involves putting a charge in the ground — the resulting blast is measured with electronic equipment like stereo speakers called geophones. This information can tell an exploration company where rocks of different densities are to assist them in finding new resources. Over the next five years more water wells went dry, but uneven water flows created a situation where excess water nearly flooded the area around the mine. More seismic testing was done, and nearby natural gas wells were developed with the use of a new technology called 'hydraulic fracturing' (aka fracking) to crack rock deep beneath the surface of the ground. The water flow into the mine increased as high as 2,300 gallons per minute. In an effort to keep the mine open 250 - 300 transport trucks to haul the water out. The potash mine has built a pipeline to transport some of the water to the Bay of Fundy. They built a grouting station next to homes that initially lost their wells to pump concrete underground to plug the holes. They brought in a drilling rig to pump aggregate, cement and other materials into the ground and aquifer to try and stop the flooding from the outside of the mine. In the end, more than 60 homes could no longer depend on their water supply. The New Brunswick government paid for water to be trucked to the community and the mine provided drinking water. The province promised the community it would commission a study to verify the relationship between the flooding of the mine and the drying of the wells. Unfortunately, the province asked the Potash mine to conduct the study. The mine hired a consultant to write a report stating there was no conclusive evidence that the flooding of the mine was related to the drying up of residential wells . Members of my community have only seen the executive summary of this reportt. The province says we cannot see the whole report as it is considered proprietary information. Today, the mine is pumping over 11million litres of water a day from the mining shafts and stopes underneath our homes. So much water is being taking from underneath our homes, we are experiencing subsidence — the ground is settling underneath our homes. If this was happening to you - in your community, what would you do?
Voices from the Blue Summit
Water Justice: the heart of Climate Justice In Copenhagen, the fight for climate justice was dealt a severe setback. Attempts by powerful governments (including Canada) to sideline international norms and trash multilateralism proved to be a critical stumbling block and remain a major threat to any hope of dealing with global warming in a comprehensive manner. The struggle continues to unfold, and despite the setbacks, it was inspiring to see small island nations take a stand and tens of thousands of youth in the streets to defend their future and reclaim their power. The other good news coming out of Copenhagen was that the water justice movement found her voice in advocating positive solutions to the global climate crisis.
Move to corporate utility would hurt public interest The City of Winnipeg is currently poised to move forward with a plan which would severely hurt the interests of Winnipeggers, and potentially those of people in other communities, for the sake of making their bottom line look a little better. As the City moves forward with their plan to corporatize Winnipeg’s water and waste department, city residents would do well to look at Edmonton’s experiences since the amalgamation of that city’s water and electrical utilities under the corporate banner of Epcor back in the 1990s. Winnipeg’s current plan is to structure the new water and waste utility along the same arms length corporate model used in Edmonton, where Epcor exists as a private for-profit corporation that has the City as its only shareholder. As such, it operates entirely at arms length with no representation from City Council or City Management on its Board of Directors or senior management team. Epcor’s own governance principles articulate this relationship very clearly when they state “Epcor’s Board operates independently of the Shareholder with the full authority to make strategic business decisions.” In other words, there is no accountability to or oversight by the people of Edmonton over the workings, service, and decision-making of Epcor. The same would be true in Winnipeg: the new utility would operate entirely at arms length with complete authority to make any and all strategic business decisions about its operations—City Council, and by extension the residents of Winnipeg, would have no say whatsoever in those decisions. Yes, in theory City Council would retain the authority to appoint and fire board members, but in reality this amounts to City Council essentially rubber-stamping a list of candidates pre-selected by the corporation itself. This is how it works in the corporate world, this is how it has worked at Epcor since its inception, and this is how it would work in Winnipeg. The role of the shareholders in this type of relationship is typically to approve annual statements and long-term plans as presented by the corporation, not to actually have a say in developing any of those plans. Despite the spin and hype put forth by consultants and mayors in trying to justify these types of deals, the shareholder relationship always ultimately result in less oversight and direct control by City Council over the operations. Read the full article online: http://www.canadians.org/water/publications/makingwaves/vol2-1.html
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We’re not talking about a small change. Climate justice, water justice means a profoundly different way of life and a different set of priorities which we have to do – we will do – this is our mission, our joyful mission.