Canary Research Institute for Mining, Environment and Health

Canary Research Institute for Mining, Environment and Health Promoting education and the reduction of poverty relating to mining's impacts on the health of indiv Undertaking scientific and social research;
2.

The Canary Research Institute for Mining, Environment, and Health was incorporated on November 3, 2003, to promote the advancement of education and the reduction of poverty in Canada and elsewhere relating to and resulting from the impacts of mineral development on the physical, cultural, social and emotional health of humans and human communities, and on the health of terrestrial and aquatic envi

ronments by:
1. Publishing, promoting and distributing the results of the Institute’s research in articles, journals and monographs and by developing and delivering workshops and seminars to disseminate the results of the Institute’s research; and
3. Providing seminars and workshops for rural and remote communities dealing with the impacts of mining.

A good reminder: mining is a waste management industry. 90 to over 99% of what it produces is waste, much of it acid-gen...
05/04/2023

A good reminder: mining is a waste management industry. 90 to over 99% of what it produces is waste, much of it acid-generating & toxic, which has to be kept safe for centuries if not millennia. That's why it's critical that governments
1. ensure mining companies post reclamation bonds to cover clean-up costs;
2. ensure funds are available to cover the inevitable spills and failures (not "accidents", please!);
3. refuse to permit new mines or expansions with waste facilities (tailings and waste rock) that are not safe;
4. work to "de-risk" existing sites by stabilizing the wastes.

Also, radionuclides are not reported except in liquid mine and mill effluent, so we have no idea how much solid radioactive material is being deposited in the environment in uranium mine tailings, for example.

A new report has found that Canada released or transferred more than 2.4 billion kilograms of industrial pollutants in 2020, with more than half stemming from one industry.

A Globe and Mail investigation has found that cases of black lung are underreported owing to inconsistent or non-existen...
05/01/2023

A Globe and Mail investigation has found that cases of black lung are underreported owing to inconsistent or non-existent tracking, the patchwork testing for the disease is inadequate and compensation programs remain widely inaccessible to most of those who need it.

In the past two decades, only a few dozen coal miners in Canada’s biggest coal-producing provinces – British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan – have managed to get a claim for black lung approved, results that also represent our only real way to track the disease in Canada. Meanwhile, in the United States, where a national screening program has tested 40,000 active and retired miners since 2005, signs of the disease have been detected in one in 10 miners. If Canadian miners acquire the condition at a similar rate, the disproportionately low number of black-lung payouts in this country signals a population left to suffer on its own.

And if nothing changes to protect those fulfilling today’s demand, occupational disease experts warn that Canada is doomed to see rising cases of the debilitating lung disease that some thought would become a relic of the past.

There’s a small resurgence in Canadian coal mining, but with limited data and testing, compensation boards are ill-prepared for the harm to workers’ lungs

In late August, The Conversation published an article promoting "What mining, oil and gas industries can learn from Sudb...
10/01/2021

In late August, The Conversation published an article promoting "What mining, oil and gas industries can learn from Sudbury, the city that went from major polluter to thriving environment". It was picked up by the National Post, The Narwhal, Corporate Knights, and a number of aggregator sites. The piece was published without any disclaimer (the author, Nadia Mykytczuk, is President and CEO of MIRARCO Mining Innovation, a non-profit spin-off of Laurentian University set up to support the mining industry – and unaffected by Laurentian's insolvency and restructuring).

The Narwhal is the only outlet that has thus far published this response from Joan Kuyek, who lived and worked for environmental and social justice in Sudbury for three decades before coming to MiningWatch. Her point is important to understanding and countering the mining industry's permanent and global policy and public relations campaign to be seen as an environmentally responsible economic engine: the continuing and massive environmental and social costs of the mineral industry behind the regreening story, and the impossibility of ever achieving full decontamination, need to be recognized, not painted over – not to mention the huge effort required on the part of communities and civil society to force the industry and governments alike to even do the rehabilitation.

The northern Ontario hub is held up as a model of cleansing a town polluted by mining. But industry has a stake in this claim

“Big occult interests"?!? Yep, that's us.
08/17/2021

“Big occult interests"?!? Yep, that's us.

The asbestos lobby uses the same tactic as the Alberta oil industry — vilifying its opponents as enemies secretly working for foreign interests who wish to destroy the livelihoods of local communities, writes former director of the BC Human Rights Commission Kathleen Ruff.

This is an important study, recording what women have been reporting for some time; now we need to see action!
08/04/2021

This is an important study, recording what women have been reporting for some time; now we need to see action!

A new report documenting the experiences of Indigenous women and women of colour at mining camps in Yukon and northern B.C., suggests women are often assigned low-paying, menial jobs at mines because of their gender — and it's those very roles that often compromise their personal safety.

The new study establishes a lower figure for how much arsenic would naturally occur in Yellowknife soil if it weren’t fo...
05/12/2021

The new study establishes a lower figure for how much arsenic would naturally occur in Yellowknife soil if it weren’t for human activity like those mines, known as the background concentration.

Soil quality guidelines are based in part on background concentrations of arsenic. NWT soil guidelines outlined in a 2003 report reference an estimate that placed the background concentration of arsenic in Yellowknife-area soils at 150 parts per million.

Palmer’s study instead sets the upper range at just 30 parts per million, a fifth of the earlier estimate – which is still in use.

Does Yellowknife soil have naturally elevated arsenic levels? The accepted answer has been yes, but a new study disagrees – with implications for cleanup work.

“Mining crowds out other land uses. That has to change because these lands belong to all of us.”
03/16/2021

“Mining crowds out other land uses. That has to change because these lands belong to all of us.”

Environmentalists and tribal leaders are fighting a plan by K2 Gold to sell its mining claims to a large corporation for development.

“Why did Alberta Environment sit on these data for easily the last 10 to 15 years?”
01/26/2021

“Why did Alberta Environment sit on these data for easily the last 10 to 15 years?”

Some Alberta rivers and streams have already been heavily contaminated by coal mining, unreported government data suggests.

"I don’t find the RCMP presence at my book launch particularly surprising. The mining industry will do everything it can...
01/22/2021

"I don’t find the RCMP presence at my book launch particularly surprising. The mining industry will do everything it can to discredit its critics,” said Kuyek.

It was not your typical book launch. Now, a formal information request of the RCMP has revealed that police intended

“I feel very, very, very sceptical,” Chakhmouradian said. “If you add all those things together: the absence of a well-d...
01/15/2021

“I feel very, very, very sceptical,” Chakhmouradian said. “If you add all those things together: the absence of a well-demonstrated technology that would work on a major industrial scale, low grades, very difficult mineralogy, remoteness and the fifth problem is radioactivity.”

As residents of five communities in southern Greenland gear up for public hearings about a proposed rare earths mining project later this month, a Canadian geologist says he has several questions about the project’s commercial viability and its potential environmental impact. The Kvanefjeld Rare E...

An excellent in-depth look at lithium.
12/22/2020

An excellent in-depth look at lithium.

The long read: The race is on to find a steady source of lithium, a key component in rechargeable electric car batteries. But while the EU focuses on emissions, the lithium gold rush threatens environmental damage on an industrial scale

Ron Diebert provides an excellent explanation of how information technology damages the environment -- and people's heal...
11/17/2020

Ron Diebert provides an excellent explanation of how information technology damages the environment -- and people's health. The rest of the series is also excellent...

What we don’t see — because it is so carefully hidden from the public eye — is the ecological impact of our social media usage and the wasteful consumption loop we’re trapped in, as we’re pushed to constantly upgrade our devices and turn simple electronics and appliances into “smart” m...

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