Proposal to ban underground excrement storage flushed

Potash miner union chair ‘disappointed’ with province’s refusal to alter rules

The provincial government refused to implement a proposed regulation brought forward by unhappy potash miners that would have prohibited the storage of human excrement in large pits deep underground.

“I’m definitely disappointed,” said Perry Bubnick, who chairs Unifor Local 892’s health and safety committee at Mosaic Co.’s Esterhazy mine, where waste has been stored underground since 2008 rather than pumped to the surface.

“All the workers in the mine are going to be disappointed,” added Bubnick, who has long advocated for the provincial government to add a section banning underground sewage disposal to its mining regulations.

The government began amending those regulations three years ago. Cabinet approved the updated rules last month, but the proposed change brought forward by the miners was not included in the amended regulations.

A request to interview Energy and Resources Minister Bronwyn Eyre was declined. Instead, the government provided an emailed statement from ministry spokeswoman Jennifer Toews, which said the proposal was given “full consideration.”

“We concluded that the underground storage of human waste presented no threat to worker health and safety when stored and handled properly. Therefore, no changes were made to (the regulations) in this regard,” Toews said in the statement.

“Any hazard posed to workers by sewage collection and disposal must be effectively managed through proper processes, training and personal protective equipment.”

Mosaic told the Saskatoon StarPhoenix last August that a toxicologist it hired to study the practice in 2010 did not uncover any hygiene problems. The company declined at the time to provide a copy of the toxicologist’s report.

Sarah Fedorchuk, a spokeswoman for the Plymouth, Minn.based company, said Thursday in an email that Mosaic “will always comply with mine regulations and strive for the safest, healthiest workplace possible for our employees.”

A representative of the Saskatchewan Potash Council, which represents all unionized potash miners working in the province, has previously described the underground pits as “disgusting” and said new rules were a “very high priority.”

According to a history of the 100-foot-long sewage pits, written by Bubnick for union officials, the company’s attempts to seal them off have occasionally failed. It describes odours “so strong at times it was hard to breathe.”

In an interview Thursday, the 40-year mining industry veteran also questioned why a requirement in the province’s occupational health and safety legislation that all workplaces have “an adequate supply of clean and wholesome air” does not apply to mines.

“It’s a double standard,” he said. “Mines can do whatever they want.”

We concluded that the underground storage of human waste presented no threat ... when stored and handled properly.