At last, Ajax mine is ‘partially’ in the City

By MEL ROTHENBURGER/ The Armchair Mayor

If you go on the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office website today, you’ll find the Ajax mine project listed as being “partially within the City of Kamloops.”

The change was made this morning after a few days of back-and-forth between yours truly and the EA Office.

KGHM Ajax had claimed the mine site was 10 km. from Kamloops, and the EAO took it as valid.

Thursday, I wrote in this space about City environmental services manager Jen Fretz’ request that an accurate distance be used, since the mine site actually straddles the City’s boundary.

That fix had still not been made on the EAO website weeks later, I wrote. Which led to the receipt of an email Thursday afternoon from Nicole Vinette at Environmental Assessment.

It said, in part:

Subject: Proposed Ajax Project – Environmental Assessment – Re: “Just how close is that new mine?’, Mel Rothenburger

The Environmental Assessment Office provides the following information to address an inaccuracy in the article regarding the location of the proposed Ajax Mine Project.

 KGHM Ajax Mining Inc. submitted a Project Description to the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency for the proposed Ajax Project in May 2011, which was then posted on the EAO’s website. 

 During the public comment period from June 8 to July 11, 2011, the EAO received comments expressing concern that the manner in which the proposed project location was described in the proponent’s Project Description was unclear and misleading because it stated that the proposed project was approximately ten kilometres from Kamloops. 

 Based on feedback received from the public, the EAO investigated how the distance was calculated and then directed the proponent to submit a revised Project Description prior to the end of the public comment period that more accurately described the location of the proposed project, including reference to its location with respect to the boundary of the City of Kamloops. 

 The proponent revised the Project Description (“Executive Summary”, page I, and “Section 3.0 – Project Location and Mapping”, page 6) to state that some components of the proposed mine, including the north waste-rock management facility, the processing facility and truck shop, and the tailings storage facility, would be within Kamloops city limits on Crown land and land privately owned by the proponent…. 

 All of which is good to know, but I felt behooved to forward the following response:

Good morning. I’m unclear from your email whether the “inaccuracy” to which you refer is with respect to the content of my column as it pertains to the location of the mine, or to the location of the mine as originally described by the proponent and circulated by your office. In any case, for your interest I have copied and pasted this morning from your office’s website the following two entries:

 (I then included two examples on the EA Office website in which the mine was referred to as “10 km. southwest of Kamloops”.)

 As you can see, in at least two instances, your website continues as of today to include the erroneous information about the location of the Ajax mine.

 A short time later, I checked the EAO website again.

Voila, the reference to “10 km. southwest of Kamloops” had been replaced in both examples with “partially in the City of Kamloops.”

The “feedback received from the public” came from Doreen Wallace, who started emailing Vinette on the matter back on June 19, pointing out the inaccuracy of the claimed distance and asking for an extension of the public input period.

Her request was turned down, but EA did direct the changes referred to in Vinette’s email as above.

So, at last, the Ajax mine has “moved” the 10 clicks to be partially within the City.