De Beers Admits Breach in Reporting Mercury Levels
July 08, 21
(IDEX Online) - De Beers Canada has admitted failing to report levels of mercury in water systems around its disused Victor diamond mine.
The case was brought as a private prosecution by Ecojustice, a non-profit environmental law organization that provides funding to lawyers to use litigation to defend and protect the environment.
It said De Beers had failed to report mercury and methylmercury levels over a period of seven years, despite being required by law to do so.
De Beers said mercury was never used at the open-pit diamond mine, which started operating in 2008.
It said it had taken samples, as required, and they were within legal limits. But it accepted that it had not reported the findings, as it was bound to do.
All its annual mercury monitoring reports for Victor mine were publicly available online.
Water from the mine was pumped into the Granny Creek water system which flows into the Attawapiskat River, in northwestern Ontario, which triggered a rise in the mercury level in the water and the fish populations.
Pic of Victor Mine courtesy De Beers