Vale NL facing 2 dumping cases in 2015

Mining company stands accused of illegal release of mine waste

Two legal cases, tied to alleged environmental damage, will be on the back of Vale Newfoundland and Labrador heading into the new year. The company faces three charges relating to release of liquid waste near the Voisey’s Bay mine site in October 2011. As well, The Telegram has learned, the company is facing a separate, but similar charge, where the alleged dumping dates back to March 2013.

The first case, as reported, involves a set of three charges, for violations of the federal Fisheries Act including depositing a deleterious substance — acutely lethal liquid waste, poisonous to fish — in water frequented by fish and failing to report the same. The water body in question is Anaktalak Bay in Labrador, where the port site is located for the mine.

Effluent lethal to fish is also behind the more recent case, where there is a single charge of illegal dumping.

Vale Newfoundland and Labrador is permitted to send out treated effluent — liquid waste — from the mine site and into the bay as part of its operations. The treated effluent requires regular testing and must remain within certain limits set by the federal government.

The case dating back to 2011 launched into a trial in May of this year, but was interrupted for voir dire proceedings, a trial within a trial, to look at the admissability of specific documentation, including email communications and formal reports.

That work was held up for roughly half a year due to scheduling conflicts and illness. The Crown and company attorneys were back on the matter in the fall.

A decision out of the proceedings is expected as the case is called again on Feb. 12, 2015. That decision will be followed by a continuation of the original trial.

For the single charge dating to 2013, formally set against the company in October, the case is set to be called in provincial court on Jan. 9.