A Recent Letter of Concern

I wanted to share with you all a letter I recently wrote to Minister Peter Kent in regards to a Rare Earth mining project up in the Temiscaming/Kipewa area.  Shortly after writing this letter, Ramsey Lake in Sudbury has been made aware of being polluted and that they are trying to find the "source" of pollution.  (Please read an article release on May 13th, 2013 CBC Story- Ramsey Lake . I feel it is time for us to really wake up and smell the honesty.  If people keep a demand on mining, that essentially creates many types of pollution, how are we going to survive?  My biggest question is WHY isn't mining capped, like forestry, fish and trapping, as well as hunting?  Have we forgot about how impacts work when excessive raping of minerals?  This isn't only happening here, but all over the world.  Please take time to read the letter to better understand the severity.  Initially, I received a letter from MiningWatch and in response, contacted the links they provided below on their site, to send out my concerns.  I have also contacted the UN, and a few other organizations including the World Public Union.  This is an ever growing concern, and understand that my hometown is surrounded by mines, but we are all effected to some degree.  How important is quality of life, over quantity of mineral? I feel this is a loaded question we should not be taking for granted or lightly.

With no further ado, here is my letter to Minister Kent:

Written and emailed on May 8th, 2013 with no response back yet...

Dear Minister Kent,

I am concerned about the proposed Kipewa Rare Earths Project in the territory of Wolf Lake and Eagle Village Algonquin First Nations.

I am a resident of Sudbury, Ontario and also a graduate in forestry, fish and wildlife management.  I have studied ecology and have done numerous water assessment inventories.

This project has the potential for significant adverse effects to the water, fish and wildlife and human uses of the area and must be reviewed in the most rigorous and participatory way possible.

Allow me to paint you a picture of Sudbury, and then, I will elaborate on each category that will be effected by the opening of this site proposed in the territory of Wolf Lake and Eagle Village.

Sudbury is the nickle capital of the world.  And, as glamorous as it may seem for our economy, we also have to look at the impact it has left around Sudbury.  I have enclosed a link to the satellite view of the tailing ponds.  Furthermore, Sudbury has one of the highest cancer rates in the world due to air pollution and possibly from dangerous chemicals seeping into our drinking water.

Click on link: http://goo.gl/maps/WL4sr

The emerald and light blue colored lakes are the tailing ponds that surround Sudbury from generations of mining, and over the years, from early smelting processes, it has left our Mother Earth blackened, resembling a moon-type landscape.  Furthermore, lest we not forget how watersheds work.  The water runs eventually into the Great Lakes, which also serves as drinking water to the surrounding communities.  Not only that, the United States also need clean drinking water.

As I mentioned, I am a resident of Sudbury and I have seen how glorious the economy has left an impact in Sudbury.  I have also suffered with generations of alcoholism due to our men making bigger paychecks and spending big paychecks and having to suffer working long hours for the production of the company.  In industries, I have lived through the pain of watching my generations suffer from this illness and quite possibly from a late great grandfather being killed in the mines in '38, that has left a negative ripple effect on my family ever since.  So now, not only is this an environmental issue, it is also an issue with social standards and ways of living.

Feel free to read my blog where I go into detail about how I grew up living with alcoholism.  You can find this blog here: http://findinghathor.blogspot.ca



I would love to discuss each and every impactual category of this proposed Kipewa Rare Earth Project.

1. WATER
- Water runs through watersheds, and eventually into our oceans, first making their way through small rivers, creeks, lakes.  Imagine being a fish and having to live in a chemical bathtub.  Imagine how this water will be effected in a few decades and even in 50 years from now.  Imagine your children or family drinking this water.  Plants also need water, as well as our wildlife.  There are many species that depend and live near waterways that will be effected.

2. WILDLIFE
- Deforestation to enable transportation will decrease the potential for species to hunt in their boundaries and also destroy natural habitat.  Imagine a hot summer day and a fire breaks loose due to the opening of a new road.  Imagine the impact it would have on the surrounding wildlife.  Imagine now that you are one of those animals that live in trauma due to the fact that your house has been destroyed because a new road was established for Rare Earth mining.  Wildlife depend on water, on forest for survival.

3. HUMAN USES
- Opening new roads will enable hunters to travel into areas that were once not open to the public which can result in rubbish dumping, air pollution from motor vehicles, not to mention the risk of forest fires.

These are only a small few examples of what may occur from opening this site.  I fear for all of us, and the state of our beautiful land which is not ours by right, but Mother Earth.  I feel that we have lost a respect for our Mother Earth and I have seen the impacts and footprints left over years and years of mining.  This is my cry out for help, from Mother Earth.

The review must also be consistent with Canadian law on the duty to consult and acccomodate and Canada's international obligations under the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

To meet these commitments Canada must accept in good faith the Algonquin First Nations offer to harmonize their review process with Canada in a joint review panel.

I fully endorse and recommend that the First Nations call for a joint review panel for the Kipewa Project.

Sincerely,

Andrea G.

If you wish to contact him with your requests or concerns, please email him at kentp@parl.gc.ca and also follow Mining Watch at www.miningwatch.ca.  Get informed, that is our right.



Now, with all this said, I also speak on behalf of you, and I and everyone we know and care about.  A Cleveland/Ohio based company is building a Ferrochrome smelter fascility just 20 kms north of Sudbury in a small town called Capreol.  (View article here: Ferrochrome Smelter for Capreol )

We get most of our fresh water from Lake Wanapitei which is just east of Capreol and north of Sudbury.  This water eventually makes its way into the Great Lakes.  So once again, this is about you and I and everyone we know that lives here or near.  If this bologna doesn't stop, when will it?

My honest, true thoughts for us all to ponder upon.  Truth is hard to swallow, but it's time to open our eyes and be realistic and weigh out the importance of demand vs. quality of LIFE.  How can we as individuals make a difference?  How can we reduce our metal waste? These are just some important questions we need to start asking as individuals, especially those who have stocks in mining industries.  We in the end are all crooks, and culprits however, we can stop and appreciate what we currently have in our lives instead of demanding for more.

Thank you for listening and reading the concerns, and I hope that you are courageous enough to respond and to comment.

Love and Light,
Andrea G.