To the editor:
On March 23rd, the University of Maine at Presque Isle Environmental Studies and Sustainability Program and the Maine Geological Survey co-sponsored a “Public Forum on Mineral Deposits, Mine Water Treatment, and Environmental Concerns” in Presque Isle. The forum’s facilitator/moderator was Dr. Chunzeng Wang, associate professor of geology and environmental science at UMPI. He noted the community outreach was to educate the public from a science perspective.
Dr. Robert Marvinney, director of the Maine Geological Survey, provided an overview of the State’s significant metallic mineral deposits. I learned that the top of the list, by far, is the estimated 30 to 34 million tons of ore (gold, silver, copper, and zinc) at Bald Mountain near the high-elevation divide between the Fish River and the Aroostook River watersheds in western Aroostook County.
A comprehensive geology lecture was presented by Professor David Lentz, of the Department of Earth Sciences, University of New Brunswick.
Mr. James Cormier, superintendent of the Environment and Community Affairs, Xstrata Zinc Brunswick Mines, in Bathurst, New Brunswick, gave a whirlwind PowerPoint presentation covering the company’s history, employment, award-winning worker safety program, business performance, social responsibilities, closure plans, and waste water treatment. I managed to learn the treated effluent from the Xstrata mine is about pH 9.1, which does not meet EPA’s drinking water standard. The receiving waters of the nearby Middle River dilute the waste so that river water is about pH 7.0, but is still quite variable.
After adjournment, staff writer Kathy McCarty of The Star-Herald captured the concerns of Shelly Mountain of Mapleton, who said, “I don’t think they really addressed the environmental concerns nor did they allow enough opportunity for those of us who had concerns to question them. I felt it was very one-sided and pro-mining.” Mountain also said she hoped another event would be planned this year that would allow more time for audience participation. I couldn’t have said it any better!
And through no fault of the University, agency support was incomplete. Although a representative of Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife attended the forum, no one was there from the Presque Isle Regional Office of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.
Steve Sutter
Presque Isle
