Jacko Lake trout tested as part of KGHM Ajax’s copper and gold mine application CAM FORTEMS
STAFF REPORTER
cam@kamloopsthisweek.com
Testing done by a consultant working for KGHM Ajax found more than half of Jacko Lake’s prized rainbow trout analyzed had mercury readings that exceed levels recommended for human consumption. The survey done in 2014 is part of the mining company’s 18,000-page application to the federal and provincial government environmental assessment agencies as it seeks to gain approval for its copper and gold mine south of Aberdeen. As part of baseline studies, a consultant sampled the sediment and tissue taken from Jacko Lake and other nearby water bodies. “Five of nine Jacko Lake rainbow trout whole-body tissue samples exceeded the lower mercury guideline for human consumption,” states the report prepared by a consultant. There is no information in the report whether that contamination, which is also contained in sediment samples, is naturally occurring or due to historic mining at the Ajax pit immediately beside the lake. The Ministry of Environment declined to comment on the finding and whether it would issue a warning in fishing guides. Murray Isman, a PhD toxicologist and entomologist at University of British Columbia, said results of the sampling should not cause alarm. “I think if residents ate one or two rainbow fillets a week, there would be little to worry about,” he said in an e-mail message to KTW. “The guidelines for human consumption are set very conservatively and based on lifetime dietary exposures [if you ate that amount of the contaminated foodstuff every week of your life].” Several anglers contacted by Kamloops This Week said the mercury levels are not particularly surprising. “Minerals are in the ground,” said Don Trethewey, a director of Kamloops Fish & Game Club. “If conditions are right, they’ll get into the water.” Brian Chan, a retired fisheries biologist, said testing of fish like that done for Ajax is not conducted routinely in B.C. “It’s expensive to get sampling
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FEBRUARY 16, 2014 | Volume 27 No. 20
kamloopsthisweek.com • kamloopsthisweek •
HOW MUCH MERCURY IS TOO MUCH? Murray Isman, PhD toxicologist and entomologist at UBC: “The data in the report show the Hg (mercury) levels in muscle (the only part of the fish that most people eat) of trout from Jacko Lake averaging 0.06 mg/kg, below the acceptable level (0.1 mg/kg if you eat 200g per week — about half a pound, a heavy single serving). “The acceptable level for methylHg (the more dangerous form) is 0.03 and the trout muscle from Jacko averaged 0.04. “I think the operative word here is moderation. Eat trout fillets from Jacko once or twice a week and there shouldn’t be anything to be concerned about. If someone was on a weird diet where their only source of animal protein was those trout and they ate it every day, well . . . “The only well documented epidemic of mercury poisoning in humans from eating contaminated fish was the case of Minamata disease (cat-dancing disease) in the 1950s, where residents of Minamata Bay, Japan, ate (mostly) heavily contaminated fish (~1 mg/kg) daily or several times per week. “The bay was severely polluted by industrial dumping.”
LOSSES & GAINS
Read how KGHM plans to add fish to Inks Lake as habitat is lost at Jacko Page A2 done,” Chan said. “There just wasn’t funds to be sampling every water body.” Chan said the region’s mineralization is a clue that metals can show up in fish and game. “If you sampled 50 lakes around Kamloops, knowing its geology — an area with copper, molybdenum, gold and other minerals — mercury could be there.”
CAMILLE B. VILLENEUVE PHOTO
Ajax information meetings begin Information sessions on the proposed Ajax copper and gold mine south of Aberdeen will be held today and tomorrow. Representatives from the provincial and federal governments and from KGHM Ajax will be at the technical-presentation sessions to answer questions from the public. The meetings will be held today from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Coast Kamloops Hotel & Conference Centre, 1250 Rogers Way, and tomorrow from noon to 6 p.m. at the same location. Next month, information
410-701 West Georgia St. Vancouver, B.C. V7Y 1C6 Telephone: 604-666-2431 Fax: 604-666-6990 Email: Ajax@ceaa-acee.gc.ca • Ajax Mine Project Environmental Assessment Office P.O. Box 9426 Stn. Prov. Gvt. Victoria, B.C. V8W 9V1 Fax: 250-387-2208 Website: eao.gov.bc.ca A summary of the proponent’s environmental impact statement can be read online at http://tiny.cc/lqm38x.
sessions consisting of booths and posters with information on the project and the co-operative environmental assessment will be held at the same site on March 15 (2 p.m. to 8 p.m.) and March 16 (2 p.m. to 8 p.m.). Meanwhile, the public-comment period for KGHM Ajax’s mine application continues until April 11. Written comments can be submitted to one of two agencies: • Ajax Mine Project Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency
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Jacko Lake south of Aberdeen is a popular fishing destination. Testing by a consultant hired by KGHM Ajax showed five of nine trout analyzed had mercury readings exceeding levels recommended for human consumption. The report does not state, however, whether those levels are naturally occurring or are connected to previous mining activity in the area.
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