So, you’ve been hearing a lot of talk recently about the possibility of an open pit uranium mine being developed in the area; perhaps you’ve seen an article or two in a newspaper. So what? Just exactly why should you be concerned?

If you enjoy living in Haliburton, or cottaging here, it’s likely that you care about the environment – the beautiful forests, the clean lakes and rivers, the wildlife, the peace and tranquility. An open pit mine will change all of that; in fact, it will destroy a significant part of it. Why? Because an open pit mine is an environmental catastrophe. As well, it could have serious consequences for the health of you and your family, could negatively impact property values and have far reaching downside effects upon the local economy through loss of business and disappearance of jobs.

Open pit mining operations are a far cry from the old ‘shaft and tunnel’ mines of the past. Open pit, or strip mining, literally tears apart the surface of the earth, blows millions of tons of rock into small pieces with high explosives, then crushes the broken rock to finally get at the little bits of ore which are hidden deep in the ground. It doesn’t require a whole lot of effort to understand the process.

Right now, we have thousands of acres of forest-covered hills and valleys. Then, the miners come in, stake their claims (you can’t prevent this even if you own the land) and, proceed to develop a mine. The open pit they want to ‘dig’ requires a huge space. Pits can be over a mile long, half a mile wide and 500 to 600 feet deep. A big, ugly hole! It could even become something the size of Kennisis Lake, biggest in Haliburton, and possibly larger.

To begin with, the forest will be clear-cut. That means all the wildlife disappears or moves out. Likely, it will take too long in order to sell off the logs, so they will simply be burned. Any nearby residents will choke on smoke for months while the stench, dust and ash will carry for miles (recall the desecration which has taken place in Brazilian rain forests). Next, the bare earth is blown up day after day with high explosive charges. At the ‘Ranger’ mine in Australia, this consisted of using 8 tonnes of explosive for every 30,000 tonnes of rock and, since they blew up 60 million tonnes of waste overburden to get at another 20 million tonnes of ore bearing rock (which is also blown up and crushed), and they did this over a 14-year period, it meant over 2,600 separate explosions or, a blast roughly equivalent to a ten ton bomb going off every second day for 14 full years. How would you like to be living within earshot of that? Talk about a ‘war zone’!

In order to get the broken, blasted rock up out of the ‘pit’, huge loaders fill gigantic trucks, some of which carry as much as 350 tonnes in one load. All of this heavy machinery operates on a round-the-clock basis, makes a lot of noise and burns enormous amounts of fuel. All the broken waste rock gets piled around the edges of the hole; some of it contains low-grade radioactive material that can emit harmful radon gas and other health-threatening elements. The uranium-bearing rock goes to a crusher (a lot more noise) to be broken down into a powder that is then milled and run through a separation process to extract the uranium ‘yellowcake’ from the undesirable parts. The leftover ‘tailings’ are then dumped with the other waste rock. Again, radioactive elements are present and open to escape since they are now exposed. Tailings pits at uranium mines are a threat to health and must be monitored for thousands of years.

So, that’s how an open pit mine operates. It destroys the landscape upon which it sits; it becomes a big, ugly hole, wide and deep, surrounded by mountains of broken rock upon which nothing ever grows. Once the ore runs out the mine closes, the jobs cease, and, even after required remediation, a toxic mess is left behind. The site would most likely then be licensed by the CNSC as a waste facility and must be monitored by the mining company for thousands of years. Often governments (you and I, through our tax dollars) wind up paying for the the monitoring after its closed.

In the meantime, it is likely that surrounding property values will have fallen; after all, who wants to live next door to (or even close by) an ugly open pit mine? The home or cottage you bought and presently enjoy because of its proximity to a wonderful, recreational environment will no longer be a place of quiet, peaceful relaxation for you and your children. The threat of contaminated air and water will now be a constant factor – radon gas, radioactive dust or emissions and possible toxic materials in your water will need to be monitored and guarded against. Children are much more susceptible to harm in their early years than adults. Do you want that worry?

And, if cottagers become concerned and move away, not only will property values fall, but so will municipal revenues based upon property assessments. That means municipal services may have to be curtailed or mill rates (taxes) increased to make up the shortfall. As a result, everyone, not just cottagers, suffers. And, if there are fewer cottagers coming to Haliburton, that means fewer sales taking place at the grocery stores, lumber yards, marinas, restaurants and all other business establishments. When business goes down, jobs get cut and overall employment suffers.

Maintaining and protecting the environment is the key to Haliburton’s survival, and to its growth and development as well. If we allow our landscape to be despoiled, if we permit our lakes and rivers to be threatened by unwise use of the lands and foolish, destructive, mining development for the sake of the few jobs which are promised, we run the risk of losing far more, of crippling those businesses which have operated amongst us for years and provided a livelihood for many while the mines have come and gone. Mining is a “boom and bust” economy, sticking around only as long as an easy buck can be made, leaving behind a legacy of problems and often a mess to clean up. At its best, an open pit mine is a very short-term gain for a very long economic and environmental pain.

So, ask yourself which scenario you prefer: the beauty we presently have, or the big, ugly hole? The home or cottage life you presently enjoy, or the place that could become a threat to the health of you and your kids? The growing tourist/recreational economy we presently have, or one which shrinks and dies because we foolishly allowed an open pit mine to come here and frightened the tourists and cottagers away?

It’s a fairly simple choice …. You decide.