Go to Charles Dube’s website for a well documented historical account of the Steep Rock Lake Mine:
Bill tells us about a not-so-well-known, long-term environmental solution in the making
A recent back road trip led me to discover the current progress of the provincial government in trying to mitigate an inherited contaminated area. If ignored, it would become a long-term catastrophe. It’s called a lake, Steep Rock Lake, but it isn’t, really.It now looks a little like the setting of a Waubgeshig Rice dystopian novel or Last of Us the raging HBO hit.
There are cautionary and explanatory signs and fenced off areas everywhere. Over time the former asphalt access roads are now well pitted and cracked with emerging plants. The same with the railway over/underpasses. The original galvanized guard rails are coated with a tinge of red iron ore dust.
I’ll need a car wash after driving around the circle route around the entire affected area. It’s about a 15km drive through what was. There is no industrial noise of a working mine present but there are reminders of ghosts. Overgrown railway ties and rails still remain showing the former progress of moving iron ore, slabs of concrete foundations of buildings past.
There is a ground base of pulverized Canadian Shield waste rock throughout, this created the original working site plan. The vegetation is stunted and dense like after the regrowth of a wildfire. And don’t let the inviting Caribbean aqua marine colour of the open mine pits’ rising water fool you. The past impact makes the landscape look bleak, there’s no lushness here.
For the rest of this article: column/back-roads-bill/back-roads-bill-mitigating-a-catastrophe-at-a-legacy-mine-9507353
This article was published by: Stan
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