James Bay Lowlands-as much water as land (Photo: Evan Ferrari / CPAWS Wildlands League).
The Victor Diamond Project is a massive diamond mine being proposed by the DeBeers diamond conglomerate in northeastern Ontario near Attawapiskat on James Bay. This region is part of one of the largest, intact wilderness areas left on earth and currently has no industrial development. There are several First Nations communities in the area that are accessible by winter road only. This wilderness supports abundant wildlife, including threatened woodland caribou, healthy fisheries, clean and plentiful water, and sustains the traditional activities of First Nations. |
How big would the mine be?
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The mine site would cover an area of 5,000 hectares. The open pit would be 220 metres deep and 1-2 kilometres wide. The ecological footprint of the mine (the area its operations will impact), however, is much larger. Up to 260,000 hectares -- an area roughly four times the size of the City of Toronto -- will be impacted by dewatering, the pumping of water out of the pit, which is likely to massively change water flows above and below ground throughout the area. There is a good chance that this project will be expanded if more diamonds are discovered in the region. 
The Victor Mine could impact an area more than four times the size of Toronto.The map above illustrates the size of the area that could be affected. |
As well, a new hydro corridor and access road from the coastal community of Attawapiskat to the mine site 90 kilometres away will bisect intact wilderness. An existing winter road along the James Bay coast will be upgraded for heavy use by large haul trucks, thus furthering spreading the ecological footprint of the mine.
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What would the environmental impacts of the mine be?
Water impacts:
- 100,000 m3 of salty water will be pumped out of the pit each day into the Attawapiskat River. This is equivalent to 40 Olympic-sized swimming pools per day or 14,600 pools per year.
- The flow of the Nayshkatooyaow River will be decreased by at least 15%.
- A 2.6 kilometre stretch of South Granny Creek will be "moved."
- 1.2 million m3 of muskeg, including trees and other plants, will be removed.
- River crossings may lead to siltation of rivers and creeks and impact water quality.
- Fish populations such as lake sturgeon, brook trout, walleye and whitefish may be harmed by the changes in water flow and water quality.
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Land impacts:
- 2.5 million tonnes of rock would be processed (piled, crushed and dumped) each year.
- 28.7 million tonnes of rock would have been dug from the ground over the life of the mine and dumped in the surrounding area.
- The waste rock may leach chemicals into the surrounding water.
- The mine would sit on top of a nationally significant geological feature called a karst, which has been described as the "best developed and most extensive karst topography in Ontario."
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Wildlife impacts:
- The area of the proposed mine and its associated infrastructure provides critical habitat for woodland caribou, a threatened species. Caribou are extremely sensitive to industrial activity and usually disappear from areas where it occurs. After the mine closes and the site is re-vegetated, studies say that "excellent habitat for moose" (shrubs and young forest) will be created, which also means that the habitat that previously supported caribou (older forest and bogs) will be diminished. This will result in the local extinction of caribou.
- The water table could be affected for up to 260,000 hectares surrounding the mine. This would change the vegetation of the area and reduce the abundance of lichens, a key food for caribou.
- The noise of the explosives used to construct the mine and from pit operations combined with trucks bringing supplies and materials to and from the mine site (60 trucks per day) would negatively impact wildlife behaviour.
- Habitat for migratory birds would also be impacted.
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Open pit diamond mine in NWT (photo courtersy Independent Monitoring Agency) |
Unfortunately, the provincial government has been handing out permits for mine preparation operations before the overall project was even approved. For example, DeBeers was given permission to pump 100,000 cubic metres of water out of the Attawapiskat River each | day and sought approval to construct roads, divert a river and build a barge landing in James Bay. This piecemeal approach means that components of the mine that could have a significant environmental impact might proceed before the full environmental assessment process is even finished!
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What would the social impacts of the mine be?
The mine would bring increased traffic through First Nations communities, changing the social fabric of the region. There is the chance that some communities will see short-term economic benefits, in the form of employment and revenue sharing, while other communities may receive few or no benefits. The traditional livelihoods of First Nations may be affected by impacts of the mine on fish and wildlife populations. Unfortunately, these impacts will last far longer than the mine's operational life -- the mine would only produce diamonds for 12 years, but its environmental impacts may last generations.
According to the project's official Comphrensive Study Report (Appendix F) "[the mine] will result in very substantial overall social change . . . the project has the potential to result in increased inter and intra-community conflict and security issues, and substance(s) abuse, flowing from income disparity, inflationary pressures and potential in-migration of current non-resident community members"
Debeers will exploit this non-renewable resource and get out. At the end of the mine's life -- in 15 years or less --- the people of the region will be left dealing with the impacts, such as damaged rivers and fisheries, depleted caribou herds, people trained in skills they can only use if they move away, huge disparities in income, and young people who no longer know the land.
Despite serious concerns expressed by many citizens and experts, the federal government has approved the mine's environmental assessment. CPAWS is now turning its attention to the provincial government. On behalf of CPAWS Wildlands League, Sierra Legal Defence Fund has filed an application under Ontario's Environmental Bill of Rights for a formal review of the government’s lack of comprehensive land use planning in the northern boreal. The groups asked the Ontario Ministries of Environment, Natural Resources and Northern Development and Mines to assess whether the province has adequate safeguards in place to protect the ecological values of its remaining intact boreal landscape under current development pressures. In the meantime, the groups are calling on the province to fully assess the Victor Diamond Mine and prevent any new industrial developments in Ontario’s remaining northern wilderness from proceeding.
Unfortunately, all the Ministries turned down our request with MOE responding in late 2006 and the Province has yet to implement meaningful land use planning before development in the Northern Boreal Region.
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What other groups are saying...
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