OTTAWA, June 17 (UPI) -- The Canadian government is set to declare 16 lakes across the country toxic waste sites for mining companies, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., reported.
The broadcaster's investigation found laws under the Fisheries Act that prohibit putting toxins into waters containing fish can be bypassed and mining "tailings impoundment areas" can be declared.
The lakes found in the probe are British Columbia, North West Territories, Nunavut, Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Elizabeth Gardiner, vice president for technical affairs for the Mining Association of Canada, defended the practice of using remote lakes to the CBC.
"In some cases, particularly in Canada, with this kind of topography and this number of natural lakes and depressions and ponds ... it's really the safest option for human health and for the environment," she said.
Catherine Coumans of the Mining Watch environmental group disagrees.
"Something that used to be a lake ... is no longer a river or a lake," she told the broadcaster. "It's a tailings impoundment area. It's a waste disposal site. It's an industrial waste dump."
