Stuck behind red tape

Henry Wetelainen is still waiting for government approval to move forward with building an iron ore refining plant in Atikokan.

Last month, the president and CEO of Bending Lake Iron Group announced the company had a $355 million loan guarantee for the project but they were stuck behind provincial red tape.

Thursday Wetelainen met with Minister of Natural Resources Linda Jeffrey to discuss his company’s plans for the former Steep Rock mine site near Atikokan. The main focus of the meeting was environmental concerns about Hogarth Lake.

"There’s supposed to be a problem with in 30 years on the water coming up too high on the Hogarth Pit and breaking into the Seine River system," he said. "She reiterated that her big concern was this could breach at anytime; that the water could fill up and go into the international waterways."

Wetelainen said they’re aware of the problem and have a plan on how to handle the site on behalf of Bending Lake Iron Group and the province.

"We would make it in no uncertain terms that we would manage the water at these sites for the life of our mine which is 50-to-100 years," he said. "We have committed to treat that water, utilize that water and when we do release it back into the system for water control purposes, it will be at drinking water quality."

Jeffery asked for an expanded project description to see how the company can manage the site over time so there’s on impact on the province or the water system, said Wetelainen.

If the environmental assessment is approved, the next step for the Bending Lake project is to start the scientific research on the site.

"We’ll start to know what we’re dealing with, put the EA together, have the public meetings in the area and go through the permitting process for the plant in Atikokan," Wetelainen said, adding that if everything falls into place, they could have shovels in the ground for the refining plant this time next year.