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Group calls for Donkin mine closure

DAVID JALA BUSINESS REPORTER david.jala@cbpost.com @capebretonpost

DONKIN – One of Canada’s leading environmental advocacy organizations is calling for the permanent closure of the Donkin coal mine.

Through its Beyond Coal Atlantic campaign, the Sierra Club Canada wants to apply public pressure to ensure that the presently idled underground Cape Breton mine never opens again.

Mine owner Kameron Coal, part of the international Cline Group that was headed by the late West Virginian billionaire and coal magnate Chris Cline, ceased mining operations at the Donkin pit in March 2020 citing “adverse geological conditions” as the reason for the closure. However, the mine is not sealed and all the equipment remains on site along with a small workforce that is employed to keep the mine ventilated and dry while idle.

Given that, and the fact that coal is selling at an all-time high of almost $400 USD per tonne, opponents of the mine have expressed concern that it will be re-opened at some point.

Beyond Coal Atlantic campaign co-ordinator Tynette Deveaux said she finds it baffling that there is even the potential for the mine to re-open given Nova Scotia’s target of eliminating coalburning power plants from the province by 2030.

“We’re finally squaring off with the Donkin mine,” said Deveaux.

“It’s very clear from reviewing the minutes from the latest community liaison committee meeting that Kameron Coal had with a few community members that the re-opening of the mine could be imminent. That’s very concerning.”

CONCERNS EXPRESSED

Deveaux cited the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the International Energy Agency recommendations that the world must make a rapid transition away from fossil fuels, especially coal, if the planet has any chance holding global warming to 1.5 C.

“This is a conversation that is bigger than Kameron Coal and the handful of people who are advocating for the mine,” said Deveaux.

Sierra Club campaign clean energy researcher Maggie Bunbury suggested that the Donkin mine, even when idled, is continuing to emit “fugitive” methane emissions.

“That’s why they have to have those ventilation fans at the mine entrance operating on a 24/7 basis,” said Bunbury.

“Those fans are giving off harmful low-frequency noises that local residents have described as ‘sleep torture.’ The only way to stop the methane emissions and the noise from the fans is to close the mine for good.”

In the meantime, the fans are continuing to run and area residents are still reporting the disturbing noises.

“The noises are still happening and depending on their location some people are hearing them from as far away as 10 kilometres,” said Catherine Fergusson, who is a member of the Cow Bay Environmental Coalition. “I’d say there are more than 60 households affected by the noise pollution.”

Fergusson added that along with environmental concerns and noise pollution, the safety of mine workers must be considered given that the underground system has experienced 14 roof falls.

For its part, Kameron Coal must soon decide whether or not to apply for a renewal of its industrial approval that expires in September. The company would also have to obtain at least two other regulatory approvals before it could resume mining.

If the company opts not to reopen the Donkin facility, the mine would eventually be flooded, a process experts say will occur naturally, once pumping operations have stopped.

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2022-07-05T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-07-05T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://saltwire.pressreader.com/article/281792812728468

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