page_title: Mary River Mine
section_title: Environmental concerns
hierarchical_section_title: Mary River Mine / Environmental concerns
caption_attribution_description: English: The temporary camp
context_page_description: The Mary River Mine is an open pit iron mine operated by the Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation in the Mary River area of Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada.
  It is said to be the world's sixth most northerly mine.
  Paul Waldie, a business reporter for The Globe and Mail, called the project one of the most ambitious in any Arctic region, and said it was expected to "triple the territory's annual gross domestic product growth rate and provide nearly $5-billion in tax revenue and royalties to the territory over the life of the project."
  The original plan was to build a railroad to transport ore to a new port on the south coast of Baffin Island. Environmental critics expressed concern over the impact the railway will have on migrating caribou, and the impact the frequent passages of the big ice-breaking freighters will have on sea mammals. Archaeologist Sylvie LeBlanc has described how the railway line will parallel the longest line of ancient inuksuit yet found over a line 6 km long. Several years were spent undergoing an environmental assessment for the railway plan.
context_section_description: The CBC interviewed Inuit from the region in April 2008, about their concerns with the plans.
  Jaypetee Palluq, an Igloolik resident who had been asked to serve on a Baffinland advisory committee, was concerned that the mine's operation would interfere with the traditional hunts for sea mammals, like walrus. He called on Baffinland to "find an alternate shipping route to the mine, regardless of the cost." Paul Quassa, Mayor of Igloolik, also expressed concern, over the effect of freighters on the ice used by the Walrus. He said the region was known for its highly prized aged, fermented walrus meat, a valuable export from the region.
  In August 2008 the CBC reported that Baffinland acknowledged three fuel spills.
  Baffinland's vice-president of sustainable development, Derek Chubb, asserted that the three spills were contained within "secondary engineered containment facilities", and that there was no environmental damage. 5,000 l (1,100 imp gal; 1,300 US gal) of aviation fuel leaked from a fuel bladder at the mine's port facilities on Milne Inlet. The other two leaks of 200 l (44 imp gal; 53 US gal), occurred near the mine site. Baffinland acknowledged that the leaks had been found months earlier, but had not been made public. Michael Nadler, the regional director general of the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs speculated that mine officials may not have felt an obligation to publicly report the leaks because they believed there had been no damage.
  On September 22, 2008, 100,000 l (22,000 imp gal; 26,000 US gal) of contaminated water was released in what officials described as "human error".
  In January 2012 Baffinland submitted a draft environmental plan to the Nunavut Impact Review Board.
  On February 29, 2012, the Nunavut Impact Review Board announced that Baffinland's 10 volume environmental plan broadly met its requirements for the points this kind of plan should address.
  In May, 2012, archeologist Sylvie LeBlanc described a chain of inuksuit that is parallel to the proposed route of the rail line as of unprecedented length and historical value. LeBlanc registered her concern with the Nunavut Impact Review Board that explosions necessary to build the rail line will trigger vibrations which will damage the inuksuit. An internal Baffinland environmental impact study had said that there should be a "buffer distance" between the site of any blasting and sites of archeologically significant structures—but the study didn't specify what the distance was.
  On July 6, 2016, the World Wildlife Foundation, one of the organizations that sits on an oversight board, the mine's Marine Environment Working Group, criticized Baffinland for a lack of transparency.
  On November 2, 2016, CBC News reported that residents of Igloolik were describing a hum or buzz, coming from deep within the Fury Strait and Hecla Strait—near Steensby Inlet where Baffinland has one of its ports. Paul Quassa, Igloolik's representative to the Nunavut Legislative Assembly, said the hum had been disturbing the sea mammals community members rely on for food.  The hum is very loud, so loud the complement of vessels transiting the straits can hear it transmitted through the hulls, without any electronic aids.
  Baffinland has been ranked as the 7th best of 92 oil, gas, and mining companies on indigenous rights in the Arctic.
caption: Mary River camp
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