Matachewan awaits verdict in tailings trial

Unable to afford a lawyer to defend himself or his company against charges related to an October, 1990, tailings spill in northeastern Ontario, Matachewan Consolidated Mines (TSE) President Richard McCloskey says he would not be surprised if the Ontario Provincial Court hands down a guilty verdict based on a mid-May trial.

The junior company and two of its officers were charged after Otisse Lake overflowed into the tailings on Matachewan’s dormant mine property, causing them to wash into the Montreal River. Goldteck Mines (TSE) and Royal Oak Mines (TSE) were also implicated in the spill, but the Ministry of the Environment has since dropped all charges against Royal Oak. The unprecedented case has set off alarm bells in the mining community, which argues that tailings on Crown-owned land in Ontario have been washing into lakes and streams for years without causing a stir.

“Reasonable enforcement of new legislation would not scare the industry but the scapegoating and shallow political motivations behind the Crown’s actions in this case have contributed significantly to the exodus of Canadian exploration funds to various foreign interests,” The Northern Prospectors Association said in a fundraising letter earlier this year.

Both Goldteck and Matachewan have reached a settlement agreement with the ministry with respect to a related order to clean up the tailings and monitor water supplies. Matachewan’s settlement calls for a $12,000 payment up front and a $400,000 lien against the gold property. Goldteck, which dropped its option to treat the Matachewan tailings after the spill, paid $40,000 to be released from the order. The government has spent about $2 million cleaning up the site.

McCloskey says if Matachewan is found guilty of negligence and fined, the company will go out of business permanently.

“A shell with a great big liability attached to it can’t be resurrected,” he said. “But if we are found not guilty and can find some money to get going again, it sure as hell wouldn’t be in this province or in this country.” The Ontario judge was expected June 19 to tell Matachewan and Goldteck when the court’s verdict will be announced.