Product details

In July 2009, Vale NL began building a $2.17 billion nickel refinery in Long Harbour, Newfoundland and Labrador. The refinery would bring economic prosperity in an area of high unemployment by creating 1,600- 2,000 jobs during construction and 400-500 permanent jobs. The environmental assessment process of the project began in 2006 and the company had successfully completed environmental impact statements (EIS) for the Federal and Provincial Governments. A major environmental issue was the disposal of toxic tailings from the refinery, and the approved solution was to store them in a natural lake, Sandy Pond, in what is referred to as a 'tailings impoundment area' (TIA). The company claimed that the use of Sandy Pond was the most environmentally friendly alternative of several studied, and that the ecological and social impacts were the least on the community. The company had applied to have environmental legislation preventing the pollution of waterways waived by requesting that Sandy Pond be placed on Schedule 2 of the Metal Mining Effluent Regulations of the Fisheries Act. This was successfully completed in July 2009. Environmentalists were not opposed to the project, but strongly believed that it was a mistake to destroy a natural body of water for industrial purposes when a land site holding pond could be created. Sandy Pond was one of several TIAs allowed in Canada and the ENGOs felt it important to take a stand on TIAs created in this manner. The Sandy Pond Alliance, an ENGO, now had to decide how to most effectively challenge this decision and to whom to target their efforts