Caribou at risk with all mining activity, biologist warns

SARA MINOGUE

Caribou can be affected by every phase of mining activity, beginning with exploration, says Leslie Wakelyn, a contract biologist with the Beverly and Qamanirjuaq Caribou Management Board.

In fact, says Wakelyn, exploration is a special area of concern because it “isn’t regulated that much, if at all.”

Noisy airplanes can disturb the animals and caribou could lose habitat by trying to avoid the new and unfamiliar activity on the land, such as drilling or fuel caching. This activity generally occurs when caribou are most vulnerable — in the summer, when they are giving birth to their young and looking after their newborn calves.

In the case of uranium mining, radioactive dust is another worry. It can be released into the environment during exploration or mining, where it has the potential to contaminate vegetation and water supplies.

And though studies about caribou and uranium exist from northern Saskatchewan, there aren’t many, and no reliable information exists to define the effects of contamination on caribou over the long term. These could include health problems, or changes in caribou’s ability to reproduce.

The mining phase brings new concerns. First of all, it adds to the level of activity happening on the land.

And uranium mining brings risks of contamination. Because the industry is heavily regulated, it’s unlikely that large areas of water or soil would be contaminated, but, as Wakelyn puts it, “the view of the board is that we should still consider these potential impacts.”

The current level of mining exploration activity shows a real need for more studies and information.

What is most needed, Wakelyn said, is a threshold — some idea of how much activity is too much to allow caribou to continue their traditional lives and migrations over huge areas of land.

“If everything continues to be fairly unregulated, at some point there’s going to be a threshold crossed where there… just aren’t enough places for caribou to go and do what they need to do, including get sufficient food and not be harassed by all the disturbance that’s going on.”

Until that threshold is determined, caribou will be at the mercy of individual mining exploration companies who are proving up suspected mineral deposits.