ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — “You can feel it in your teeth,” Labrador West MHA Jordan Brown says about the mine dust in the air in Labrador West, which is sometimes so thick it blocks out the sun.
For nine days in the last month, dust measurements exceeded the maximum acceptable concentrations. On May 23, the dust was 3 1/2 times the maximum acceptable level.
The dust includes particulate matter, or PM10. According to Environment and Climate Change Canada, numerous studies link particulate matter to aggravated cardiac and respiratory diseases such as asthma, bronchitis and emphysema, and to various forms of heart disease. Environment and Climate Change Canada says it can also have adverse effects on vegetation and structures, and it contributes to visibility deterioration and regional haze.
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Mine dust can also contain silica, which can cause silicosis, an irreversible scarring and stiffening of the lungs. It can also cause lung cancer, kidney disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
“It's just like a fine sand. It's everywhere,” Brown says.
“It just blows right over the town. People are worried about it because we've had industrial disease, and lung disease, and stuff like that is an issue in mining. And if you actually work on the mine sites, they require you to wear a dust mask when it's like that on the mine sites, but yet it blows over the town. So, obviously there's some health concerns there.”
Air pollution control regulations under the Environmental Protection Act state the concentration of particulate matter can’t exceed 50 micrograms per cubic metre, yet a graph on the government’s website indicates it exceeded that level on seven days between April 29 and May 13.
Seeking enforcement
During question period in the House of Assembly on May 24, Brown asked the government to enforce regulations, hold the mining companies accountable and review the companies’ dust mitigation plans.
“We're really working with the proponents up there to get the dust under control,” said Environment and Climate Change Minister Bernard Davis.
He said there’s a mitigation program underway.
“We're going to hold them to account to that to make sure that's as good as can be expected,” Davis said.
He said when there are exceedances (when the dust exceeds air quality standards), the government will contact the companies to see why it happened, and what can be done to lessen the amount of dust in the air.
“Do they need to do better? Absolutely. We're going to try to keep them focused on doing better and doing it earlier so they can mitigate those concerns before they actually happen in the community,” Davis said.
On Monday, May 29, SaltWire asked Brown what he’s hearing from residents in the area.
“They’re tired and they’re angry,” Brown said.
“It’s almost like you're in a desert, but we're in the middle of a boreal forest.”
Brown said that from what he can tell, there hasn’t been any enforcement of regulations.
“Other than, you know, giving (companies) a phone call and saying, ‘Knock that off.’ ... It’s just blowing all over the community, and it does for multiple days at a time, and it doesn't seem that the government even bothered to even go into the region and do anything about it.”
SaltWire has requested further information from the provincial government about how it’s holding the companies accountable.
