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The federal government will let the Sisson Partnership dump mine waste into two fish-bearing brooks that feed the Nashwaak River.

Amendments to the Metal and Diamond Mining Effluent Regulations posted today redefine portions of Bird Brook and a tributary to West Branch Napadogan Brook as “tailings impoundment areas,” allowing the owners to bury the brooks under mine tailings and waste rock.

The Conservation Council of New Brunswick has been a vocal opponent to the Sisson Mine Project as it is currently designed, and we are on the record pointing out its flaws — including inadequate tailings storage and the impact on Atlantic salmon, brook trout, slimy sculpin, and American eel in the lower Wolastoq (St. John) River watershed. To hold back mine waste, the owners say they would need to build a tailings dam twice the height and 16-times the length of the Mactaquac dam.

As part of the permit to dump mine waste posted on July 10, 2019, the Sisson Partnership is required to submit a Fish Habitat Compensation Plan to be approved by the Federal Minister of Environment. Sisson’s current plan is to spend $954,000 to remove two barriers to fish passage, a dam and culvert, and reintroduce alewives into the Nashwaak watershed.

In its comments last year, the Conservation Council said the habitat proposed for compensation is not the same as the habitat that would be destroyed. The lost habitat supports endangered species, specifically Atlantic salmon and American eel.

The project still has to meet 40 conditions laid out by the provincial environmental impact assessment and will need to provide evidence the conditions have been met before construction of the mine can begin.

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