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1) ADAMS MINE COALITION- For Immediate Release - July 22, 2003
MOE Caught On Adams Mine Water Plans – Now Doing Damage Control
New Liskeard — The Ontario Ministry of Environment is scrambling to develop a “strategy” for dealing with the public in the wake of a backlash over plans to issue dewatering permits at the Adams Mine. The permits are seen as the first and most important step for reviving the dump plan.
Charlie Angus of PCT says that ever since the plans have been exposed the Ministry has been struggling to come up with a coherent explanation as to why they tried to slip these permits under the public radar screen.
“Once again we have Ontario civil servants engaged in a ‘Catch Us If You Can’ Policy regarding Adams Mine,” Angus comments. “And once again, it appears as if public policy is being developed on the fly now that the Ministry has been caught. This so-called ‘strategy’ for dealing with the public appears to be more about shielding the Ministry’s agenda than protecting the public good.”
It is standard practice for the Ministry to inform the public of any Take Water applications through the EBR registry. The MOE failed to do this in the case of the recent Adams Mine permit application and Angus says the Ministry is giving contradictory explanations about why they decided to ignore the public. For example, one Ministry staffer claimed the Ministry was under no obligation to post the permits for public comment, while another staffer stated the EBR posting hadn’t been made because the MOE was still preparing the file.
Angus says the lack of a coherent or justifiable policy raises serious questions about what may be going on in the dying days of the Ontario Conservative government.
“Why is this sudden rush to issue a dewatering permit at the Adams Mine when there is no client for the garbage? Is this rush to push the permits through tied, in any way, to the expected election in September – an election the pro-Adams Mine Conservatives may just lose?”
Angus says northern residents have initiated a massive letter writing and phone call campaign to stop the dewatering process. He points out that citizens also exposed a secret plan to sell 2000 acres of Crown Land to the Adams Mine consortium. The Conservative government has still not come back to the public with a coherent explanation for the sale or even its status. Angus says the dewatering permits will face an even bigger backlash.
For more information contact:
Public Concern Temiskaming (705) 647-1452
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