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The cliffs of a mining quarry create steps and ridges in the rock.

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B.C.
Victory

Ending narrow environmental assessment of large industrial projects

MiningWatch Canada v. Canada (Minister of Fisheries and Oceans)

June 1, 2010

The case revolves around the contentious Red Chris mine, an open-pit copper and gold mine in northwestern B.C. The mine is adjacent to an area christened by local First Nations the “Sacred Headwaters” – the birthplace of three major salmon-bearing rivers of the Stikine, Nass and Skeena.

The project’s proponent, Imperial Metals, proposes to destroy fish-bearing streams by damming them and using these natural waters to store toxic mine waste. Not only would the project destroy waterbodies used by local residents for fishing, but it risks contaminating the watershed for hundreds of years with toxic mine waste.

Under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act and its regulations, metal mines processing more than 3,000 tonnes of ore per day must undergo comprehensive assessments with public participation. Yet the government gave the Red Chris Mine only a screening level assessment, despite the fact it would produce 10 times as much ore. The government also chose to assess only a small fraction of the project, leaving out the actual mine and mill.

What does this victory mean?

In his Federal Court decision, Mr. Justice Luc Martineau condemned the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and Natural Resources Canada for unlawfully evading a comprehensive environmental assessment of the Red Chris Mine, and unlawfully preventing the public from participating in the federal assessment. (MiningWatch Canada v. Canada [Minister of Fisheries and Oceans] 2007 FC 955.)

The decision orders that the Red Chris Mine be denied any federal permits on the basis of the unlawful environmental assessment. Unfortunately, despite its unlawful assessment, the Red Chris Mine was eventually built. Yet, going forward under the new Canadian Environmental Assessment Act 2012, the government must now assess industrial projects in their entirety.

Jan 2010
Red Chris mine
press release

Federal Court hears case against BC open-pit copper and gold mine

In a case that could have far-reaching consequences, lawyers from Sierra Legal will tell a Federal Court judge tomorrow that development of a large open-pit mine in northern British Columbia should not go ahead until the project has undergone a comprehensive environmental assessment.
Jan 2010
Red Chris mine
press release

Federal court halts Red Chris mine

Following a Federal Court decision on September 25, 2007, the future of the proposed Red Chris Mine - a huge acid-generating mine proposed for northwestern British Columbia – has been put in doubt.