Pitfalls of proposed silica mine surround environment minister

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This article was published 26/06/2023 (843 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

They told you so.

For many months, environmentalists, intervenors and local residents have warned the Manitoba government a proposed silica sand mining project east of Winnipeg was not safe.

Last week, the Clean Environment Commission agreed.

In an exhaustive report on the Sio Silica proposal, the CEC determined the proponents had failed to show the extraction of silica deep underground will not create significant environmental problems, including contamination of ground water.

“Our reasoning is that, despite the geotechnical, hydrogeological and environmental studies the proponent has carried out… the commission does not have sufficient confidence that the level of risk posed to an essential source of drinking water for the region has been adequately defined,” the report concluded.

Alberta-based Sio Silica wants to use “airlifting” to blow air into a silica deposit as deep as 60 metres, pump it to the surface and, ultimately, to a processing plant. Although airlifting is established mining tech, it has not been used for this kind of project on any large scale.

Sio Silica says the benefits outweigh any concerns. By extracting the silica from underground deposits and pumping it to a processing facility via airlifting, it eliminates the presence of dangerous silica dust that comes from open-pit mining and transportation by truck. The leftover water would be pumped back into the ground to, in part, replace the silica that was removed.

However, there are many expert-supported concerns this process is a threat to the aquifers and local geology.

The deep wells needed to extract the silica would lead to the mixing of two different aquifers, which could ultimate contaminate well water. There are also concerns the cavities created by the extraction would be unstable and susceptible to collapse.

Even though CEC accepted those concerns are still largely unaddressed by Sio Silica, it does not have the power to approve or reject the project.

In Manitoba, that power rests solely with Environment and Climate Minister Kevin Klein, who suddenly finds himself in possession of a hand grenade of a file.

At a news conference June 23, Klein said before he decides on a course of action — approving a licence for Sio Silica, rejecting it outright or telling the company to go back and have another go at planning — there will be more review by a technical advisory committee and consultations with Indigenous communities.

What Klein could not commit to was issuing a decision on the fate of the project before the Oct. 3 provincial election. That puts the rookie cabinet minister, and the Progressive Conservative government, in a precarious position going forward.

This is already a file rife with well-justified concerns about political favouritism.

The first of these has to do with the role of Klein’s department, which effectively gave the thumbs-up to the project and referred it to the CEC over the concerns of critics, experts and local residents.

Then there was the government-appointed Manitoba Municipal Board sparking concern in March by ordering the Rural Municipality of Springfield to change its zoning bylaws and enter a development agreement with Sio Silica. The order effectively overruled an earlier Springfield council decision to rebuff the company’s proposal.

There are also concerns how Sio Silica has aligned itself with prominent Tories in Manitoba.

Sio Silica’s board includes David Filmon (son of former premier Gary Filmon, a senior lawyer at MLT Aikins LLP and past chair of the PC Fund) and Michael Pyle (a well-known Tory supporter and chief executive of Winnipeg-based Exchange Income Corp.).

Pyle has been appointed to board positions several times by the PC government, and most recently was asked to head up a new government-sponsored venture capital fund.

Although the CEC appears to have, at least partly, done its job in an apolitical and dispassionate manner, there are plenty of concerns Klein will issue a licence anyway. Many of those concerns come from Klein’s assertion a “technical advisory committee” will be tasked with reviewing the CEC report.

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Typically, a TAC is struck before an application for an environmental licence is forwarded to the CEC for consideration, not after it has produced a recommendation for the minister. (It’s important to note the CEC undertakes additional technical analysis of a proposal by hiring its own experts.)

Adding another layer of TAC review has already raised red flags with project opponents, who believe Klein is looking for a way of nullifying CEC concerns.

There is little doubt silica is a valuable resource, and Sio Silica’s proposal (which ultimately includes a giant plant to make solar panels) would be an economic win for Manitoba. It is equally certain establishing another major source of silica would be a huge boost to the global clean-energy industry.

Can Klein somehow pull an environmental licence out of a hat filled with so much concern? The hardest truth for the rookie minister is he only has 90 days to figure out how to master that trick.

dan.lett@winnipegfreepress.com

Dan Lett
Columnist

Dan Lett is a columnist for the Free Press, providing opinion and commentary on politics in Winnipeg and beyond. Born and raised in Toronto, Dan joined the Free Press in 1986.  Read more about Dan.

Dan’s columns are built on facts and reactions, but offer his personal views through arguments and analysis. The Free Press’ editing team reviews Dan’s columns before they are posted online or published in print — part of the our tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.