Environmental concerns raised

MOOSE RIVER GOLD MINES, N.S. – As chief operations officer Maryse Belanger gives a tour of the Touquoy site, heavy trucks lumber around the property, building holding areas for a pond where water from the project is stored before being returned to the environment. This discarded water is among the environmental concerns raised by some residents of the region.

Retiree Barbara Markovits says nitrogen in the effluent – in part from the explosives – may lead to unnatural enrichment of surrounding waters, leading to potential fish kills.

“We remain concerned about the ongoing water quality of the effluent when that mine starts,” said Markovits, a member of the Eastern Shore Forest Watch, who suspects open-pit gold mining may prove to be a temporary industry that’s highly dependent on keeping costs low.

The company responded in an email that nitrogen levels can be controlled through proper selection of explosives that won’t produce the residues and are highly insoluble in water. Markovits said her group also wants effluent-quality test results to be placed online within “days or hours.”

As well, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency is demanding further information on the impacts of the second open pit, the Beaver Dam project, which would have trucks carrying ore over rural highways to Touquoy.

Belanger says the company’s response to the issues will be posted “in the coming weeks,” and that its proposed hauling route “does not pass by any existing homes.”