An Environmental Investigation of the Quinsam Watershed

Tuesday's Quinsam Watershed meeting at the Maritime Heritage Centre was well attended by members of the local and regional community. Greenways Land Trust, the Tyee Club, the Haig-Brown Institute, the Campbell River Environmental Committee, and Campbell River Estuary Protection Group sponsored the meeting to inform the public of the current and evolving environmental state of the Campbell River watershed and the proposed expansion of the Quinsam coal mine.

Dr. Cullen of the Canadian Water Network, was the the focus of the night, his study found concerning levels of anthropogenic arsenic in sediments collected from Long Lake due to acid rock drainage. He cautions corrective action may be required pending further studies. Here is the executive summary by Dr. Cullen:

An environmental investigation of the Quinsam watershed

This study was initiated to investigate whether the mine was introducing arsenic into the watershed and if so, what the effects of arsenic input were on biota in the watershed. To determine natural and anthropogenic elemental loadings in sediments in the area, sediments were collected from a number of background lakes and lakes on the mine property, including the lake of highest concern, Long Lake. These results were compared with waste material from the mine site. The uptake of arsenic was investigated by using mussels in both short and long-term monitoring studies. A short-term caged mussel experiment was designed to investigate the potential for arsenic uptake, while long-term monitoring of mussels downriver of the mine was used to investigate current and historical arsenic loading in mussels.

Anthropogenic inputs of elements, including arsenic, to the watershed were identified after collected lake sediments were analyzed. In particular, Long Lake sediments were found to be elevated in arsenic. Further speciation analysis and bioaccessibility, or solubility, testing indicated that the introduced arsenic contamination can be easily solubilized and is more soluble than arsenic in the waste rock from the mine site. These speciation and bioaccessibility tests indicate that Long Lake sediments have forms and solubilities of arsenic similar to those from surrounding lakes. Further study is required to identify which of many potential sources around Long Lake is responsible for the elevated arsenic concentrations. The lake that flows into Long Lake, No Name Lake, was previously identified as also having elevated arsenic concentrations (Nordin, 2006) and the current study obtained similar results.

Elevated arsenic concentrations in sediments were found to correlate with elevated arsenic concentrations in biota. During the short-term caged mussels experiment higher arsenic loadings were found in mussels in Long Lake than in surrounding Quinsam watershed lakes. Higher loadings were seen in mussels collected from the Quinsam River in relation to the same species of mussel monitored in a nearby watershed, Simms Creek.

Arsenic concentrations are elevated in Long Lake as a result of acid rock drainage and other chemical process associated with mine waste. The high arsenic levels are associated with high concentrations of sulphate. The arsenic is available to bivalves, and presumably other biota. Further studies to identify the points of arsenic input should be undertaken to allow for corrective action. In particular sediment cores would provide evidence of the extent of anthropogenic arsenic inputs since the mine opening.

The full study can be viewed here.

There is not as of yet any conclusive evidence that condemns the expansion of the mine due to the vague nature of the available proposal. Greenways will thus continue to monitor the project's progress and provide information both here and on our website.

Listen to the CBC On The Island interview with our President pertaining to the proposed project here.

Read the CBC article here.