Environmental groups critical of work resumption at Cape Breton’s Donkin mine

Environmental organizations are criticizing the Nova Scotia government's decision to allow work to resume at Cape Breton's Donkin coal mine following a two-year closure.

Provincial approval of the resumption of work at Cape Breton’s Donkin coal mine after a two-year closure is being heavily criticized by environmental groups.

The underground mine, shuttered in March 2020 amid slumping coal prices and roof falls that led to repeated government stop-work orders, resumed operations on Tuesday.

“It’s pretty absurd but it’s not surprising,” Tynette Deveaux of Sierra Club Canada said in an interview Thursday. “You’d like to think that governments learn from past mistakes but apparently not.”

Deveaux said the restart of the mine is a safety concern given the operator’s spotty record. According to the provincial Labour Department, it had issued 152 warnings and 119 compliance orders to mine owner Kameron Coal Ltd., since work initially began in February 2017.

In March 2020, Kameron Coal ceased production citing “adverse geologic conditions after a roof fall at the mine the previous month in which no one was injured.

The department has said it will continue to conduct regular announced and unannounced inspections at the mine, adding that work is still prohibited in areas where rockfalls occurred previously.

But Deveaux remains unconvinced by the assurances.

“Whether the department is doing surprise inspections or not, worker safety is on the line,” she said.