Cape Breton Post

Peace and tranquilit­y lost

South Head couple concerned about noise from Donkin Mine

- SHARON MONTGOMERY sharon.montgomery @cbpost.com @capebreton­post

SOUTH HEAD — Michael Lea and Catherine Fergusson moved from Ontario to a family property in South Head a year ago, looking for the peace and tranquilit­y a rural area offers.

Lea said since the move, it's been anything but quiet thanks to the Donkin Mine.

“We live about seven kilometres as the crow flies from Donkin Mine,” he said. “The sound from the mine is so loud we can actually record it. The noise penetrates the wind and the waves. It’s affecting our quality of life.”

Lea said it’s not just affecting their lives but also for residents of Port Morien, Waddens Cove, Sand Lake Road and even Homeville.

He said it all began last year. First, they tried dealing with Donkin Mine but after not getting anywhere, in October 2019 lodged a complaint with Nova Scotia Environmen­t in Sydney.

Lea said they were informed the noise source is the mine's intake fans for the exhaust system. Months went by with no progress through the environmen­t department and by January, two other residents had also lodged noise complaints.

On Jan. 31, Lea said environmen­t officials finally traveled to South Head to investigat­e and told him they were surprised by the intensity of the noise levels from such a great distance from the mine site. On March 19, Lea said he was informed instead of installing the supplied silencers, the mine was going to build a wall of four shipping containers in front of ventilatio­n fans. The wall was built April 29, but Lea said it didn’t make a difference. Instead of investigat­ing further, Lea said on May 12 Nova Scotia Environmen­t issued a regulatory directive to senior mine management to monitor mine noise for 24 hours.

“They informed us the monitoring took place but that their department has no regulatory authority to take additional action at this time.”

Lea said recently he discovered residents of surroundin­g communitie­s were having the same issue and also have been recording noise levels they are being exposed to.

Since Donkin Mine ceased production permanentl­y March 30, Lea said the noise is no longer 24/7 but is consistent and continues to wake them up all hours of the night.

“Yet Nova Scotia Environmen­t is unable or unwilling to protect community health.”

Lea said as well there are many bird sanctuarie­s in the communitie­s there and if the noise is affecting residents, it’s affecting wildlife. As well, he’s concerned about methane emissions being released from the mine.

As a result, Lea created a website at gobsmack.org to let the broader community know how the mine was affecting environmen­tal and human health. CBRM COUNCIL RESOLUTION In the meantime, the website has caught the attention of Cape Breton Regional Municipali­ty District 8 Coun. Amanda McDougall.

McDougall said although the mine has come to a halt, the residents continue to live with the noise pollution worries and concerns regarding methane emissions and remediatio­n plans.

Due to the history of Cape Breton with the steel plant, there are always concerns about what’s going to happen after an industry leaves, McDougall said.

"I applaud citizens for being proactive about those sorts of things and wanting to do something now instead of having a huge environmen­tal catastroph­e," she said.

After reading Lea’s scientific, fact-based website and talking to the couple, she wanted to help.

McDougall planned to introduce a resolution at Tuesday’s council meeting to be a voice for the communitie­s and reach out to provincial and federal representa­tives of the island and ask them for help, including to figure out what the plan forward is for the Donkin Mine site.

“It doesn’t necessaril­y fall within a municipal jurisdicti­on but there’s nothing we can’t be a voice for in making sure that concerns of our residents have been heard,” she said. CONCERNS FROM PORT MORIEN In the meantime, LeRoy Peach of Port Morien is another resident with deep concerns. Peach said although the mine has closed, Kameron Coal has decided to dewater the mine and ventilate it. Peach said the mine is using two large fans without silencers on them, a sound which travels right into Port Morien.

“As this noise travels over water going towards South Head and Waddens Cove, it picks up sound,” he said. “Sometimes the sounds of the fans at night is very, very loud. I hear the fans right at my own dwelling right at the entrance to Port Morien.”

In a letter to Sydney River-Mira-Louisbourg MLA Brian Comer, Peach commented he has read the provincial environmen­tal guidelines regarding noise pollution and the guidelines do not appear to have been implemente­d by the province here.

Peach said he wants to see a more extensive investigat­ion of the noise pollution and that methane emissions could be a serious problem. MINE REMEDIATIO­N Nova Scotia Energy and Minister Derek Mombourque­tte said environmen­tal issues would be handled by the environmen­t department. However, as far as residents worrying about remediatio­n, the province will not be required to clean up the site at the taxpayers’ expense.

In an emailed statement, Mombourque­tte said the operator of the mine has a defined reclamatio­n plan that was approved by Nova Scotia Environmen­t and the Department of Energy and Mines. The plan outlines how the site is to be reclaimed at the operator’s expense.

“In the event that the operator fails to clean up the site, they have posted a cash reclamatio­n security with the province,” he said. “The security will be held by the province until the site is reclaimed in the manner described in the mine’s reclamatio­n plan.”

Kameron Coal and Department of Environmen­t were both contacted for comment but had not responded by deadline. DONKIN MINE NOW Shannon Kerr, spokespers­on for the Nova Scotia Department of Labour and Advanced Education, said as of March 30, Donkin Mine closed for production. However, a skeleton crew remains on site for maintenanc­e work. A rockfall occurred at Donkin Mine over the weekend of May 2-3 and LAE inspectors visited the site on May 4 and issued a stop-work order. Kerr said as of June 5, the stop-work order has been lifted and maintenanc­e activities can resume.

 ?? CONTRIBUTE­D ?? A map Michael Lea of South Head put together detailing community issues regarding Donkin Mine. Donkin Mine is the red dot, where the noise can be heard is in orange and important bird areas are purple.
CONTRIBUTE­D A map Michael Lea of South Head put together detailing community issues regarding Donkin Mine. Donkin Mine is the red dot, where the noise can be heard is in orange and important bird areas are purple.

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