Regarding Gord Bacon: "Mining industry not getting the message out"

Posted by Michael Hewitt on November 29th, 2011 2:22am

The following letter was sent to the Kamloops Daily News in response to Gord Bacon's letter to the editor entitled: "Mining industry not getting the word out", posted November 26, 2011.

 

Dear Editor,

Mr. Gord Bacon's recent letter to the Daily News (mining industry not getting the message out, Sat, November 26) is a good example of the type of response one occasionally gets to reasoned public comment on the KGHM Ajax mine proposal. He states that the debate has been one sided, with layman environmentalists, and various other protest groups dominating the debate, and wonders why the various mining, engineering and other groups mentioned have remained silent. They haven't remained silent, Mr. Bacon, they have been busy doing what the corporate world always does; they have been lobbying the politicians, the decisions makers. However, KGHM in particular has been remarkable silent for the most part, and on the few occasions they have issued statements, verbal or written, the information provided has been either misleading or simply untrue. For example, the proposed mine is NOT 10 kilometres from Kamloops, a canard repeated on more that one occasion, and there IS arsenic in the rock according to the assay reports submitted as part of the Project description. KGHM had every opportunity to present its case to a forum (note, a forum, not a debate) recently hosted by the Kamloops Area Preservation Association, but declined the invitation.

The layman, environmentalist and protest groups mentioned by Mr. Bacon are probably a reference to the Kamloops Area Preservation Association (KAPA), which has actively promoted public interest in the KGHM Ajax project. He should be aware that KAPA's support for the federal government to appoint a review panel for the Ajax project has been supported by the Grasslands Conservation Council, The Kamloops Fish and Game Club, the Kamloops Naturalist Society, and physicians and surgeons of Kamloops. The areas of expertise in KAPA alone includes medical specialists, geologists, persons with degrees in the environmental sciences, ex-miners with decades of experience, a PHd chemist, an academic with expertise in economics, teachers, and many other well educated residents of this city and its surrounds. And, of course, the ranchers, who are experts in grasslands management through good ranching practices. We are not "laymen" nor are we what BC Environment Minister Terry Lake is recently reported to have referred to as "outside groups", a most disparaging comment. We DO understand the scientific principles and practices involved, and we wonder why Mr. Bacon's letter made only passing reference to any possible adverse effects the proposed mine might create. We should not even consider "potential positive impact on the local economy" until we are quite sure of what the adverse effects will be. And we sure shouldn't trust Mr. Bacon's unsupported statement that none of the issues such as airborne dust, arsenic, emission of toxins into the water table etc. are reasons to reject the mine. His statement that none of these fears are supported by fact is completely wrong. KAPA has dealt with facts throughout, many of them obtained from KGHM documents, and others through diligent research. It appears that Mr. Bacon is quite willing to allow KGHM, a Polish company recently rated as having the worst pollution record of 300 companies studied in Europe, to surge ahead right within our city limits. But only for 23 years, after which we are left to pick up the pieces. Mr. Bacon clearly represents a special interest group - mining at any cost. Welcome to the special interest club Mr. Bacon.

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