加拿大2個保育團體10月7日發動法律行動來對抗加國環境部長，試圖迫使加國政府公佈環保團體所謂：「隱瞞加拿大民眾的千百萬公斤有毒採礦廢棄物」。
加拿大「生態正義（Ecojustice）」公眾利益法律事務所，代表「加拿大看守礦業（MiningWatch Canada）」及「五大湖聯盟（Great Lakes United）」2個團體在聯邦法院提出訴訟案。「五大湖聯盟」是一個國際公民結盟組織，主要針對美國及加拿大邊境的五大湖區及聖勞倫斯河生態系進行保存及復育工作。這項控訴宣稱環境部長柏德（John Baird）違法指示採礦公司不要理會他們營運所產生百萬公斤污染物的申報責任，而這個申報義務是「加拿大全國污染物釋放清冊（National Pollutant Release Inventory, NPRI）」所規定的。
「生態正義」受雇律師鄧肯（Justin Duncan）表示：「相關法律十分清楚，就是加拿大的採礦公司依法必須申報他們釋放到環境中的的化學物質數量。然而，在環境部長的指示下，這些公司多年來持續藐視法律，對每年傾倒到我們環境中的大量有毒礦渣密而未報。」
鄧肯指出，相對的，美國政府自1998年以來就依據「美國聯邦有毒物質釋放清冊（U.S. Toxics Release Inventory, TRI）」規定，要求採礦公司要申報他們營運所產生的污染物數量。
儘管在2萬3566個受清冊規範而必須向美國政府申報的工業機構中，美國礦業僅有72個，鄧肯根據美國政府報告中所發表的圖表指出，在2005年，美國的礦業就排放出5億3000萬公斤的污染物，這大約是全美當年所有申報污染物的27%，而這些美國礦業申報的污染物有97%是礦渣及廢石。
Two conservation groups launched legal action today against Canada's Minister of Environment seeking to force the reporting of what they claim are "hundreds of millions of kilos of toxic mining waste being kept secret from the Canadian public."
The public interest law firm Ecojustice filed the lawsuit in federal court on behalf of MiningWatch Canada and Great Lakes United, an international citizens coalition that works to preserve and restore the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River ecosystem on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border.
The complaint alleges that Minister John Baird broke the law when he directed mining companies to ignore their legal responsibility to report millions of kilos of pollution from their operations under the National Pollutant Release Inventory.
"The law is clear - mining companies in Canada are legally required to report the amount of chemicals they are releasing into the environment," said Justin Duncan, staff lawyer with Ecojustice.
"Instead, at the direction of the Minister of Environment, these companies continue to flout the law by not reporting massive amounts of toxic tailings they dump into our environment each year," Duncan said.
By contrast, the U.S. government has required mining companies to report the amounts of pollutants generated by their operations under the U.S. Toxics Release Inventory, TRI, since 1998, he said.
Despite the fact that the U.S. mining industry comprises only 72 of the 23,566 industrial facilities filing TRI reports to the U.S. government, Duncan cites government figures showing that in 2005 the mines released more than 530 million kilos of pollutants - accounting for 27 percent of all pollutants reported across the United States.
Duncan says mine tailings and waste rock accounted for more than 97 percent of the total pollutants reported by the U.S. mining industry.
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In my healing journey and learning to attain the breath awareness, I become aware of the reality that all the creatures of the world are breathing the same breath. Take action, here and now. From my physical being to the every corner of this out of balance's planet.
