As described here, the proponent received an Environmental Compliance Approval (ECA) for the pumping of water from their proposed construction site, however:
- For at least four days last week, they spilled untreated water into the Precambrian Shield parking lot. This is in contravention of the Environmental Protection Act.
- They did not immediately report this unauthorized spill to the MOECC, which is in contravention of their approval.
- They have not complied with their ECA as they did not install the required equipment.
- The equipment they did install has inadequate capacity, as a result for for days last week it overflowed, yet the proponent continued running their pumps, causing untreated water to be dumped into the Precambrian Shield parking lot.
- They are required to test the discharge water daily, but are not doing this.
It is very disappointing that rather then requiring the proponent to comply with their ECA, the MOECC apparently provided informal approval for the proponent’s deficient water treatment system, with the result that untreated water was pumped into the Precambrian Shield parking lot last week.
Of even bigger concern is that even though the proponent’s Environmental Site Assessment noted there may be polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) buried within their proposed construction site, the proponent has no evidence that the site is safe. As a result, their work could release PCBs directly to the Moon River.
As a result, we have sent this November 23, 2017 letter to the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, and await a response.