MANITOBA GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES VIVIAN SAND PROPOSAL WILL NOT MOVE FORWARD

- - - Serious Environmental Concerns Outweigh Uncertain  Economic Benefit: Kinew The Manitoba government has decided to not issue an environmental licence for the Vivian sand extraction project in the Rural Municipality of Springfield, Premier Wab Kinew and Environment and Climate Change Minister Tracy Schmidt announced today. “Our government will always put the health and safety of Manitobans first, and this includes ensuring communities have safe, clean drinking water,” said Kinew. “After taking the time and doing our due diligence, our government has come to the decision that the risks of this proposal outweigh any potential benefits.” The decision made by Schmidt was based on the information and data provided by experts including the report done by the Clean Environment Commission (CEC) as well as consultation with impacted communities and First Nations, noted Kinew. The CEC report identified a number of serious environmental concerns about this project, which would have extracted sand through aquifers that provide drinking water to 100,000 Manitobans, said the premier. “We have a responsibility to ensure we are not endangering Manitobans’ drinking water,” said Schmidt. “This proposal failed to adequately consider long-term impacts including potential aquifer collapse. That’s why we made the decision to not issue a license for the Vivian sand extraction project.” The CEC also heard from hundreds of Manitobans voicing their opposition to this project including the community of Springfield, local leaders, scientists and environmental advocacy groups, noted the minister. - 30 -

When corporate interests trump the human right to clean drinking water - a case of concern in Manitoba, Canada.

by Don Sullivan - Canadian Dimension 

Don Sullivan (above) is the spokesperson for What The Frack Manitoba, the former director of the Boreal Forest Network and special adviser to the government of Manitoba on the Pimachiowin Aki UNESCO World Heritage site. He's a research affiliate with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and a Queen Golden Jubilee medal recipient.

Two corporations, both Alberta-based, are in the midst of seeking Government of Manitoba approval to build and operate silica sand mines and processing facilities that would extract and process some 2.6 million tonnes of silica sand per year. Story here.

RELATED:

"Is Manitoba's Brokenhead River about to become a dumping ground for an Alberta-based sand-mining company?"

Is Manitoba's Brokenhead River about to become a dumping ground for an Alberta-based sand-mining company?

by Don Sullivan

Kayakers on the Brokenhead River. A Wikimedia photo.

The Brokenhead River begins in the wetlands of Sandilands Provincial Forest, located in Southeastern Manitoba. It ultimately drains 200 kilometres later into Lake Winnipeg. Most of the river is navigable by canoe or kayak.

This meandering river is now under threat.

It might very well become a toxic dumping ground for CanWhite Sands Corp (CWS) of Alberta. Last month, CWS  filed a proposal under Manitoba's Environment Act, for approval to construct a silica sand processing facility near Vivian in Southeastern Manitoba. The closing date for commenting on this proposal is August 25th, 2020.  If you have concerns, you have between now and then to express them, here. 

Once the processing facility receives government approval, CWS intends to submit a second application. This would be for both the mine, where the sand will be obtained and for the methods the company will use to extract it. The splitting of a single proposed project into two separate ones in this way, probably makes approval a foregone conclusion.

CWS indicates that 15 percent of what it will extract (from 200 feet below the surface in the Winnipeg Formation aquifer), will be sand and shale. That means that 85 percent, will be water (a fact conveniently ignored in the company application). Simple math shows, in order to produce its intended target of 1.36 million tonnes of sand per year, CWS will also need to extract 7.7.million cubic meters of water annually.

This will surely pose a serious problem for the people of Southeastern Manitoba who rely on this aquifer for their drinking water. Why? Because this much water coming out of the aquifer annually will certainly inhibit the ability of this aquifer to recharge itself.

Since the average Canadian uses 329 litres of water a day, again math shows the amount required by the company would serve a city much larger than Brandon each year.

The sand and water will be sucked up to the surface through hundreds of boreholes a  year. Only a fraction of it will be needed to process the sand in the wet plant. The bulk of it, likely more than six million cubic meters, will likely be dumped into the Brokenhead. It will contain high levels of heavy metals, chromium, arsenic, neurotoxins. It will also be acidic, as pyrite in the shale will cause acids to drain into the river. Of course CWS never mentions any of this in its application. That would apparently be too transparent for them and even raise a number of alarm bells.

The release of deleterious substances into the river would be a clear violation of the Federal Fisheries Act and threaten aquatic life there - life such as the rare Chestnut Lamprey eel. It's a species at risk, still surviving in the Brokenhead. It would almost certainly be impacted.

The river runs through the Brokenhead First Nation, which, to my knowledge, has never been consulted on the impacts of this project on their Treaty Rights.

"What The Frack Manitoba" is therefore calling on the appropriate authorities to do the following;

Request that the Province of Manitoba suspend its approval process until such a time that the appropriate federal authorities have the required information from CWS to determine the extent of the adverse impacts of the proposed development project will have with respect to federal jurisdiction. And that the proponent (CWS) submit information not only for its proposed silica sand processing facility but also its silica sand mine and mining method, to be reviewed as one project via a panel review process, to determine the extent of the adverse impacts with respect to federal jurisdiction.

Determine if the federal Impact Assessment Act (IAA) is applicable, and if not, that the appropriate federal Minister and or federal authority use the discretionary powers under the IAA to designate this proposed development an IAA Project for the purpose of applying the provisions contained in IAA.

Request that the Crown (Federal/Provincial as they are not divisible) undertake a Section 35 consultation process with Brokenhead First Nation to determine what if any adverse impacts of this proposed project will have with respect to Brokenhead First Nation Section 35 Rights prior to any environmental approval of said propose development project occurs.

Don Sullivan is the spokesperson for What The Frack Manitoba, is the former director of the Boreal Forest Network and served as special adviser to the government of Manitoba on the Pimachiowin Aki UNESCO World Heritage site portfolio. He is a research affiliate with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and a Queen Golden Jubilee medal recipient.

Don Sullivan (above) is the spokesperson for What The Frack Manitoba, the former director of the Boreal Forest Network and special adviser to the government of Manitoba on the Pimachiowin Aki UNESCO World Heritage site. He's a research affiliate with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and a Queen Golden Jubilee medal recipient.

RELATED: 

"When corporate interests trump the human right to clean drinking water - a case of concern in Manitoba, Canada.

Silica dust produces a distinctive reaction in the lung that eventually leads to the development of masses of fibrous tissue and distinctive nodules of dense fibrosis, which, by contracting, distort and damage the lung. Silicosis is a hazard in any occupation in which workers are exposed to silica dust, particularly rock drilling above or below ground, quarrying, or grinding with a wheel containing silica. Cases have also been reported in dental technicians, who use the material ground into a fine powder.

‘This is sacred’: the fight against a massive frac sand mine in Manitoba.

The sand in question here is destined for use in "facking," a method of extracting shale gas that has either fallen into disrepute or been banned in many places. This links you to what is perhaps the most comprehensive and authoritative compendium of information about the practise by two groups of concerned US physicians. Their bottom-line conclusion is - it ought to be banned!

Green Party of Manitoba opposes "frack" sand operation

Green Party of Manitoba.

A Green Party of Manitoba Environment Advocate Dave Nickarz has sent a letter to Minister squire in opposition to the proposed Wanipigow Sand Extraction Project. For a copy of that letter, click here.

RELATED: "Peace camp set up in Manitoba's Hollow Water First Nation to oppose sand mine project."

Consultation or Coercion – You Tell Me

Is a controversial “frac sand mine”about to go ahead on the east side of Manitoba's Lake Winnipeg without proper consent?

by Don Sullivan

Whenever there is an activity or development, such as the frac sand mine and processing facility being proposed adjacent to Hollow Water First Nation (“HWFN”), that may have an impact on Treaty Rights, the Crown not only has a duty but a legal obligation to consult with the affected First Nation community. Story here.

Don Sullivan has worked on, and written about issues affecting the East Side of Lake Winnipeg for almost 27 years.

The sand mine referred to here would supply fracking operations with a product needed for them to thrive and survive. Is this what the world needs? Please also read:

The Natural Gas Industry has a Leak Problem.

Please also read: The World is Running Out of Sand - the Smithsonian.

Man's demands on Earth's resources are nothing new. This painting depicts
sand miners in Poland - circa 1867. Courtesy the National Museum in Warsaw.