This is NOT the job locals want. The CEO of the company who wants to open the Idaho-Maryland Mine has a questionable history. The safety manager at his previous mine said “It’s only because of God’s grace that some one was not killed there while they were operating.”
Two years after the Ministry of Environment ordered Banks Island Gold Mine to shut down its operations for environmental infractions, the province is now taking the company’s ex-president, mine manager and aquatic biologist to court.
One of the first witnesses to take the stand was former safety manager of the site, Brent Edmunds. With 40 years in the mining industry, Edmunds was hired in April 2015 and once on site, he said he saw many labour issues and he was alerted about uncontained spillage. In May 2015, he toured the site and took photos of liquid discharge from the mine.
“All these tailings were all over the place,” he said to the Northern View, a day after his testimony.
He took photos of mill tailings, waste product from the mine, leaking into a creek at one site, and flowing into a swamp and lake area at another site.
Edmunds said he made an anonymous tip regarding concerns he had over the health and safety of many of the Indigenous employees.
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Article by Shannon Lough of The Northern View.