‘Ajax will cost more than it’s worth’

NEWS/ AJAX — The proposed Ajax open pit copper mine will cost more than it’s worth, two opponents assert.

Retired Thompson Rivers University professor Ken Blawatt and retired physician Dennis Karpiak released an evaluation today on the economic, health and environmental costs of the mine.

The 35-page report cites social, health and welfare issues as ongoing negative effects of the mine. “To this can be added the environmental losses that will affect the region for centuries to come. On balance the mining operation will cost more than it is worth.”

While Karpiak and Blawatt say the mine would provide a total estimated economic benefit of $2.195 billion, site cleanup alone could cost $2.6 billion, and the total economic loss could be $6.2 billion.

“The net economic benefits are out-weighed by a heavy total cost to all residents even as it generates billions of dollars in profit for the promoters and owners of the mine,” they say.

Their report expresses fear of the mine’s impact on tourism, health, the water table, recreational lakes, the grasslands and fish stocks.

It says the Tournament Capital program could be adversely affected.

One of the main reasons mines are located away from urban areas is the adverse effects of mining activities, Karpiak and Blawatt say.

Their report uses studies of the impacts on other mines to back up its arguments.