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Photo courtesy, APLTI – Nadeau Photo Solutions
The tailings piles and the Bécancour river.
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Many citizens frequent these waterways, and municipalities draw their drinking water from them. And yet asbestos mining residues accumulated in dumps (mountain) are left unattended and dump there, which has a “significant impact” on water quality, concludes an investigation by the public hearings office on the environment (BAPE).
We learn in particular in this report that the ministry collects little or no data, does not assess the impact of these residues.
This investigation confirms the “inertia” of the Department of the Environment, believes the Association for the protection of the Irish Trout Lake where the Bécancour river flows, which carries asbestos residues during heavy rainfall.
“The ministry has not done anything for half a century”, affirms the president of the Association, Réjean Vézina, in Journal.
800 million tonnes
Two weeks ago, our Bureau of Investigation showed that the Ministry of the Environment was doing little follow-up and lacked the knowledge to ensure good management of Quebec lakes.
However, despite the proximity of several mining sites, the water bodies of the Thetford Mines region are not the subject of more particular attention, confirms the BAPE.
Because even if asbestos is no longer exploited there, there are still more than 800 million tonnes of asbestos mining residues which are piled up in dumps without any “water erosion control” measures, indicates the Watershed Consultation Group. of the Bécancour zone in a brief submitted to the BAPE.
Courtesy photo
Réjean Vézina
President, APLTI
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The conclusions of the report do not surprise Mr. Vézina who noted the lack of support from the provincial.
No help
After having mobilized the citizens, the federal government and the municipality of Ireland, the association succeeded in having an eroded dam restored which no longer held back the spills of mining residues. “I made requests to the provincial government, without success. ”
In 2010, the MRC asked the ministry to inspect erosion problems in Lac à la Truite. If the ministry found the silting up, it concluded that the source could not be identified and in the absence of violation, closed the file, according to another brief.
Mr. Vézina is therefore confronted with a ministry that does little to document the state of the lakes in the area and does little to act. And when it tries to take action, the ministry requires scientific documentation, which represents a significant cost for these volunteers who fund studies through benefit dinners.
The BAPE report published on August 7 concerns the inventory and management of asbestos and asbestos mining residues. An entire chapter is devoted to water quality.
Some of the conclusions
- Lack of data and follow-up by the Ministry on the effects of runoff from asbestos mining residues on the quality of surface water and groundwater.
- The government has not collected any data on the state of aquatic environments in water bodies where runoff from asbestos mine tailings is discharged, although experimental studies bear witness to the toxicity of asbestos on them. .
- The commission recommends the creation of a monitoring program supervised by the ministry as well as a research program as well as an intervention plan in order to characterize the dumps.
Extracts from the report
- “The Commission of Inquiry notes that concentrations of chrysotile fibers comparable to those observed in the Bécancour River since 1981 have resulted in physiological and behavioral reactions as well as pathologies and mortalities at different stages of the life of fish species. ”
- “Water intended for consumption
Mation can also be taken from lakes and rivers, which can be contaminated with asbestos fibers from runoff water […] the treatment of this water usually removes up to 95% of the fibers. ”
- “Part of the Quebec population is served by private wells. […] As the soils in these regions contain asbestos horizons, the water from these residential wells is likely to contain significant amounts of asbestos fibers. The risks associated with environmental exposure to asbestos through the ingestion of contaminated drinking water remain hypothetical. The data are indeed inconsistent, even contradictory. ”
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