Langham project raises environmental concerns

Watch the video above: concerns raised over the impact of a metal processing plant on water supply

LANGHAM, Sask. – Environmentalists say a plan to build a metals processing plant near a small Saskatchewan town will pose risks to the area’s water supply.

There are also concerns toxic dust may be blown onto nearby farmland putting local businesses at risk.

Fortune Minerals plans to build the Saskatchewan Metals Processing Plant on a plot of land 2.5 kilometres from the town of Langham, Sask. northwest of Saskatoon.

The proposed space is just 200 metres from Colleen Parenteau’s business, Saskatoon Berry Farm.

“The dust, the light, the noise,” Parentau lists as just a few of her concerns.

“We built this business and we built it over 20 something years and we just don’t want to see it go down, it’s my livelihood, it’s my husband’s livelihood,” she added.

The plant would process copper, cobalt, bismuth and gold transported by rail from the company’s mine in the Northwest Territories.

What is concerning locals most is that the processing leaves behind a waste product that contains arsenic, which the company plans to bury in securely lined cells 14 feet underground.

“The risk is that over the long-term this arsenic laced waste could gradually make their way through the lined cover,” said Peter Prebble, from the Saskatchewan Environmental Society.

“We fear this waste could easily end up reaching the Dalmeny aquifer and contaminating it,” said Prebble.

The Dalmeny aquifer sits directly below the proposed plot of land the plant would be built on.

The aquifer is the source of drinking water for people living in the region and it’s from there Fortune Minerals plans to draw one million litres every day.

“That’s our biggest fear, is this water going to be fresh and there for our future and for our children in the future, said Langham resident Ken Crush.

“Once that water is at risk or damaged it can’t be fixed,” he said.

The company says it has made plans to mitigate those risks.

“We’ll be monitoring levels in the aquifer so if it is being drawn down we’ll know right away, we’ll be measuring the chemistry of the aquifer so if there is contamination we’ll know that right away,” said Dr. Rick Schryer, Fortune Minerals’ director of regulatory and environmental affairs.

“Same with the injections well, same with air, same with dust, all of this needs to be monitored and all of this will be reported,” he added.

Fortune Minerals’ environmental impact statement is open for public comment until Dec. 6, at which point the project’s fate will be in the hands of the Saskatchewan environment minister.

If approved, the project would create 200 jobs over the construction period and around 85 permanent positions.