Compliance Energy Corp CPYCF

Water Hazaard Prevention Order for Raven--WEst Coa

[mokita]

So far two independent hydrological reports confirm CEC hydrology and hydrogeology reports are not credible and risks of AMD will be the same as from Quinsam and every other operating coal mine.

 

MEDIA RELEASE



VIHA ASKED TO ADDRESS RISK TO DRINKING WATER FROM PROPOSED RAVEN COAL
MINE



The UVic Environmental Law Clinic today asked Vancouver Island Health
Authority’s Drinking Water Officer to issue a Hazard Prevention Order
to address the risk to drinking water posed by the proposed Raven
Underground Coal Mine Project.

The request was made pursuant to the Drinking Water Protection Act on
behalf of CoalWatch Comox Valley Society.  The request is supported by
two water suppliers below the proposed coal mine – Fanny Bay
Waterworks and Ships Point Improvement District.

The Clinic submitted an expert opinion from a hydro-geologist and
engineer that provides evidence that:

·       the mine is likely to release heavy metals such as arsenic
into streams either used directly for drinking water or connected to
aquifers used as drinking water sources; and

·       under the current environmental assessment process, the
planned assessment and monitoring program for the mine is “very weak”
and is likely to not mitigate the risk adequately.

The Clinic submission provides information about the risks of Acid
Mine Drainage, which destroyed the fishery in the Tsolum River, once
created one of North America’s largest point sources of metal
pollution at Brittania Creek, and caused the 1993 BC State of the
Environment Report to state that Acid Mine Drainage was “one of the
main sources of chemical threats to groundwater quality” in BC.

The submission cites numerous examples of where mine-contaminated
water has affected human health.  It also notes that Comox Valley
Regional District, Comox Town Council and Courtenay City Council have
recently passed motions to oppose the further processing of the Raven
project application  by Government, until comprehensive aquifer
mapping of the aquifers that could be affected by the proposed Raven
Coal Mine Project is done.

“ Speaking as a private water well owner in Fanny Bay, I also support
this request for a Hazard Prevention Order,” said CoalWatch president
John Snyder. “The protection of our precious water supply should be
paramount, and the fact that the UVic Environmental Law Clinic has
made this extraordinary request is significant indeed.”

The ELC request for a Hazard Prevention Order can be viewed on the
CoalWatch Comox Valley website: www.coalwatch.ca  or the ELC website: www.elc.uvic.ca