Completion of Expanded Passive Mine Water Treatment Facility in Reserve Mines, Nova Scotia
News Release
For Immediate Release
$6.1 million Expansion Treats up to 19,000 Litres of Raw Mine Water Per Minute
October 28, 2016 — Reserve Mines, N.S. — Public Services and Procurement Canada
Member of Parliament for Cape Breton–Canso, Rodger Cuzner, announced today, on behalf of the Honourable Judy M. Foote, Minister of Public Services and Procurement, the completion of an expanded passive mine water treatment facility in Reserve Mines, Nova Scotia.
Valued at $6.1 million, the expansion of the Neville Street facility allows for the collection and treatment of up to 19,000 litres of acidic raw mine water per minute, originating from 10 interconnected former underground coal mines in Glace Bay, Dominion and Reserve Mines.
Previously, the first phase of the facility, built in 2009, could treat only up to 7,000 litres of mine water per minute.
The passive mine water treatment system involves the use of settling ponds, aeration equipment, a mixing solution that neutralizes the acidity, and engineered wetlands to filter the remnant metal particles from the water, before it is released into the environment. A bi-weekly sampling and analysis program is conducted throughout the year to ensure discharged water meets Canadian fresh water aquatic guidelines.
The passive treatment facility in Reserve Mines is one of four passive treatment sites located in former mining communities throughout the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) also manages a state-of the-art active mine water treatment plant in the community of New Victoria. In total, these facilities treat six billion litres of acidic mine water every year to ensure that it poses no risk to the environment.
PSPC’s Cape Breton Operations team earned two Canadian Consulting Engineering awards in 2014 for its innovative approach to mine water treatment.
Quotes
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The Honourable Judy M. FooteThis important work is part of the Government of Canada’s strong commitment to protecting our environment. I commend the department’s staff in Cape Breton for putting in place an innovative made-in-Cape-Breton solution to a unique challenge, ensuring our environment is protected for future generations of Canadians.”
Minister of Public Services and Procurement
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Rodger CuznerNot only does this project serve to protect the environment, it has also benefited the local Cape Breton economy. Since the original passive treatment facility in Reserve Mines was constructed in 2009, approximately $9 million has been spent on planning, design, construction, environmental effects monitoring, and landscaping, the majority of which has been invested in our local communities.”
Member of Parliament for Cape Breton–Canso
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Related Products
Fact Sheet: Neville Street Passive Mine Water Treatment Facility, Reserve Mines, Nova Scotia
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Office of the Honourable Judy M. Foote
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Fact Sheet
Neville Street Passive Mine Water Treatment Facility, Reserve Mines, Nova Scotia
When Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation (ECBC) was dissolved in June 2014, Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) inherited the environmental obligations of the Crown corporation, including the ongoing remediation and monitoring of the impacts from centuries of coal mining on Cape Breton Island. A big part of that involves the treatment of contaminated mine water.
During mining operations, water that infiltrates the mine tunnels is collected and pumped out of the mine. When the mines closed, pumps were turned off, and abandoned mine workings slowly flooded with ground water. The oxygen-rich water reacted with the pyrite found in coal to create acidity and release metals such as iron, manganese and aluminum, which became dissolved.
Over time, the abandoned mine workings filled to capacity. Left uncontrolled, the contaminated mine water, also known as acid mine drainage, finds its way to the surface and into the environment. There, it reacts with oxygen from the atmosphere, and the metals that were dissolved now begin to settle out or precipitate.
Contaminated mine water often contains iron, giving it a yellow to rusty brown color, and the name “copperous water.” It can pose a serious threat to the environment; the acidity and metal precipitates can destroy plant and fish habitats.
In 2009, ECBC constructed the first phase of a passive mine water treatment facility in the community of Reserve Mines, near the former mining town of Glace Bay. Passive treatment uses as many natural processes as possible to treat mine water, with minimal human intervention. The passive treatment facility, located on Neville Street, was designed to neutralize acidity and remove metals from contaminated mine water.
Treating mine water through a passive system is a four-step process:
- The raw mine water is intercepted underground and pumped to a set of aeration cascades to vent off mine gases and absorb oxygen
- Sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) is injected at the bottom of the aeration cascades to neutralize acidity
- The mine water enters settling ponds, where the metals are allowed to oxidize, react and drop to the bottom
- The mine water passes through a constructed wetland where hardy species of native reeds and bulrushes form a natural filter that removes any remaining metal
The fully treated mine water is released back into the environment at Cadegan’s Brook. A bi-weekly sampling and analysis program is conducted throughout the year to ensure that the discharge is compliant with Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment fresh water aquatic guidelines.
The facility treats mine water from 10 abandoned and interconnected underground coal mines known as the 1B Mine Pool, located in the communities of Glace Bay, Reserve Mines and Dominion, and off-shore beneath the Atlantic Ocean. When the first phase of the facility was built in 2009, it was restricted by the amount of land available and could only treat a maximum of 7,000 litres of contaminated mine water per minute.
In May 2014, the treatment facility was expanded to deal with increased amounts of rain and melting snow infiltrating the mine workings during the late fall and early spring.
Valued at $6.1 million, the Phase II expansion allows for the treatment of 19,000 litres of raw mine water per minute. The expanded facility includes aeration cascades, caustic dosing equipment, three settling ponds in series, and a two-hectare constructed wetland.
The expanded facility started treating water in the spring of 2016, which is peak mine water treatment season.
The Neville Street facility is one of five treatment sites located in former mining communities throughout the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. PSPC’s Cape Breton Operations also manages a state-of the-art active mine water treatment plant in the community of New Victoria. The other passive treatment facilities are located adjacent to the former No. 11 mine site in Glace Bay, the Franklin mine site near Big Bras D’or, and the Beaver mine site in Albert Bridge.
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