Winnipeg Free Press By: Don Sullivan Save to Read Later
CANWHITE Sands Corporation (CWS) has not yet received an environment licence from the province of Manitoba to proceed with the construction of its processing facility, nor has it submitted an Environment Act Proposal for review and approval for its unconventional silica sand extraction activities. Yet this company has been undertaking advance exploration activities and extracting silica sand from deep within the aquifer that supplies drinking water to most of southeastern Manitoba.
Opinion
CANWHITE Sands Corporation (CWS) has not yet received an environment licence from the province of Manitoba to proceed with the construction of its processing facility, nor has it submitted an Environment Act Proposal for review and approval for its unconventional silica sand extraction activities. Yet this company has been undertaking advance exploration activities and extracting silica
Winnipeg Free Press By: Don Sullivan
Opinion
CAN White Sands Inc. (CWS), an Alberta-based company proposing to operate a silica sand mining operation, began exploratory extraction activities near Vivian in southeastern Manitoba back in 2018.
This initial exploratory activity by CWS was undertaken to test its unconventional mining method for extracting silica sand deep within the Winnipeg Formation, where a major aquifer supplies drinking water to all of southeastern Manitoba, and to test the quality and quantity of the silica sand using this unconventional extraction method.
Under the Manitoba Mines and Minerals Act, mining companies that extract 500 tonnes of mineral for sampling purposes are undertaking advance exploration activities and by law must file, with the director of the Manitoba Mines Branch, a mine closure plan prior to commencement of the advance exploration activities.
Winnipeg Free Press
Online petition has nearly 1,900 signatures
SUPPLIED
A map of the proposed Vivian Sand Facility project in the RM of Springfield, south of Vivian, Manitoba.
A proposal to extract silica sand by fracking east of Winnipeg has area residents and advocates for the environment calling for an independent third-party review of the controversial sand mine in the R.M. of Springfield.
A proposal to extract silica sand by fracking east of Winnipeg has area residents and advocates for the environment calling for an independent third-party review of the controversial sand mine in the R.M. of Springfield.
They fear the groundwater the source of drinking water for tens of thousands of Manitobans could be contaminated, and that money will talk louder than public health and the environment when decisions about the proposal are made. Through the advocacy group What The Frack Manitoba, they’ve launched an online petition that had close to 1,600 signatures Frida