Atlantic Canada vs. Atlantic Gold

Climate protesters pose with their signs during the Antigonish Climate Strike in October 2019 - Adelaide Strickland

Over the past few years, climate activism has been on the rise—from boycotting one-use products and endorsing environmentally conscious companies, to participating in climate strikes (not unlike the one this past October in Antigonish). As the Canadian population becomes increasingly aware of the devastating effects of climate change on other regions of the world, there has been a spike in concentrated efforts to be a part of the solution.   

As global environmentalism becomes more topical, however, it can be easy to overlook the environmental exploitation being carried out much closer to home. In September of last year, the Cochrane Hill mining project proponent Atlantic Gold submitted their project for an environmental assessment by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency. The open pit gold mine is proposed to produce roughly two million tons of gold-bearing ore annually, for an estimated 6 years. Many environmental interest groups have expressed their concern with the selected mine site with respect to its contribution to climate change and its compounding threat to several already at-risk species in the area—most prominently, the Atlantic salmon. 

Protesters in Sherbrooke mobilize in response to Atlantic Gold’s proposed gold mine at Cochrane - Sam MacDonald

The Atlantic Salmon is a notable species in Nova Scotia for both Indigenous communities and settler families. Salmon is not only of economic importance to Mi’kmaq peoples, but also plays into their social and cultural identity. In the Mi’kmaq creation story, the fish is seen sacrificing itself to feed Glooscap—the legendary creator among Wabanaki peoples—a predominant group across Atlantic Canada.

In addition to its legacy and economic role, the Atlantic salmon is environmentally significant. Trout and Atlantic salmon act as essential keystone species for our massive coastal rivers system and surrounding offshore waters. They link terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems together as the apex predator in water ways, and in contrast, a frequent prey for terrestrial predators such as the Heron. Furthermore, many ecologists use the Atlantic salmon as an indicator species; a large population size among Atlantic Salmon can indicate abundant and viable populations at lower trophic levels. In this chapter of human history where the turbulent nature of our climate reaps significant damage from our industrial processes, it’s important to be able to track environmentally significant species. 

With the changing climate come warmer water temperatures—a deterrent for the species that spawns in cold, fast moving water. The mine’s proposal to divert thousands of gallons of water for their industrial practices from the St. Mary’s watershed will have consequences for the species thriving off the freshwater network. In addition to amplifying the conditions contributing to the loss of Atlantic salmon species, the Cochrane mining project is also committing to a long list of greenhouse gas emissions.

Combustion products such as CO₂, sulphur oxide, and other nitrogen oxides are all released through operating mining equipment. The on-site machinery vehicles are fueled with sulphur diesel fuels, contributing to the onslaught of GHG emissions in our atmosphere. In addition to amplifying the conditions contributing to the loss of Atlantic salmon species through their emissions, the Cochrane Hill mining project is also committing to a 104-hectare tailings pond—over twice the size of StFX campus. The containment damn is being engineered to hold 8.6 billion litres of toxic industry by-product not too far from Cameron’s Lakes—a collection of water bodies popular for recreational fishing, and more importantly, that feed into the St. Mary’s watershed.   

A crowd gathers for the Antigonish Climate Strike in October 2019 - Adelaide Strickland

Although many efforts are being made to spread more information regarding the project and its associated disadvantages, it can be difficult to garner civic participation. Campaigns such as the NOPE (“No Open Pit Excavation”) and the Atlantic Salmon Federation have launched some educational seminars on the mining project, which stand as the only efforts being made to inform Nova Scotians as to what’s being built in their backyard. Community outreach (as required of mining or development projects in Canada) should be enforced on a broader scale—not simply encouraged for the immediate communities and First Nations groups surrounding the project. If the people of Nova Scotia were better informed of the environmental impacts, the extent of emissions contributing to climate change, and the watered-down economic return associated with these industry heavy projects, there is no question, in my mind, that sufficient backlash would be produced to keep the project from going through.