Canada’s waterways no place for toxic waste
As a result of the tenacity of lawyer Lara Tessaro and her clients, Canada’s top court will be taking a closer look at a rather disturbing government stance on mining.
As a result of the tenacity of lawyer Lara Tessaro and her clients, Canada’s top court will be taking a closer look at a rather disturbing government stance on mining. The federal government has given a mining company the green light to turn a waterway into a toxic waste dump – without adequately consulting local residents.
It sounds like a story from a less developed nation: a high stakes
struggle to tap natural resources that tramples the rights of citizens.
Yet it is happening here in Canada, in communities from coast to coast.
In this legal battle, Tessaro will represent MiningWatch Canada,
which has already made history by being the first environmental group
ever to be granted the right to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.
The case revolves around the contentious Red Chris mine, an open-pit copper and gold mine proposed by Imperial Metals for northwestern BC.
The legal battle started more than two years ago when Tessaro challenged the federal government’s approval of the project.
In
September 2007, the Federal Court sided with the environmentalists,
ruling that the government had broken the law by not completing a
comprehensive environmental assessment. The decision was then
successfully appealed by the government and company, setting up the
upcoming showdown at the Supreme Court.
“Canada is one of the
only industrialized countries that allows mining companies to turn
lakes and streams into toxic dump sites. It is a national disgrace,”
said Tessaro.
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