Mayor cites lack of dialogue, threat of environmental catastrophe<\/p>\n
Published Feb 06, 2026 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 Last updated 10\u00a0hours ago \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 5 minute read<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n You can save this article by registering for free here<\/a>. Or sign-in<\/a> if you have an account.<\/p>\n The New Brunswick community where one of the federal government\u2019s proposed nation-building projects will be located says there are still evironmental concerns to answer to before it can give its blessing.<\/p>\n Advertisement 2<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.Get exclusive access to the e-Edition, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.Support local journalism and the next generation of journalists.<\/p>\n SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.Get exclusive access to the e-Edition, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.Support local journalism and the next generation of journalists.<\/p>\n REGISTER \/ SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to keep reading.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one account.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite journalists.<\/p>\n THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authors<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cThe protection of the Nashwaak and Tay watersheds is not negotiable,\u201d said Nashwaak Rural Community Mayor David Sweeney, whose municipality encompasses the former Village of Stanley and the site of the proposed open-pit tungsten and molybdenum Sisson Mine near the Nashwaak River\u2019s headwaters.<\/p>\n Sweeney says there\u2019s been a communications gap between the province and his three-year-old municipality since the federal government revived talks around the Sisson Mine, a discussion that had laid mostly dormant since 2017.<\/p>\n Vancouver-based Northcliff Resources Ltd. owns the majority stake in the mine, and has said the mine would create 500 construction jobs and 300 full-time openings until the mine reaches the end of its expected lifespan after 27 years.<\/p>\n The tungsten it contains is particularly coveted by global militaries, used for aerospace applications and weapons systems, like armour-piercing ammunition. The world\u2019s supply is controlled mostly by China, so the deposit along the Nashwaak could be a gamechanger for G7 nations.<\/p>\n Advertisement 3<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Nashwaak\u2019s council issued a news release this week, saying \u201cglobal experience has demonstrated that failures associated with large-scale tailings storage facilities can result in catastrophic and irreversible damage\u201d to watersheds, and \u201cany development that introduces even a low-probability risk of such outcomes must be approached with extreme caution and a precautionary lens.\u201d<\/p>\n That referred to the Mount Polley copper and gold mine near Williams Lake and Xat\u015b\u016bll (Soda Creek) First Nations in central British Columbia, where a tailings dam fail in 2014 spilled 25 million cubic metres of toxic wastewater into three nearby lakes.<\/p>\n The Nashwaak feeds into the St. John River in Fredericton, meaning a similar break at the Sisson Mine could have consequences for the entire watershed.<\/p>\n Council\u2019s concerns echo those from the Nashwaak Watershed Association, a nonprofit that works on conservation efforts along the river.<\/p>\n Morning Email Telegraph-Journal<\/p>\n Thanks for signing up!<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Advertisement 4<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n The group\u2019s executive director, Allyson Huestis, said earlier this year a disaster similar to Mount Polley at the proposed mine could be \u201c10 times bigger\u201d given the scale of Northcliff\u2019s plans.<\/p>\n \u201cTailings ponds are forever,\u201d Huestis said in January. \u201cWhether it\u2019s a slow leak or a major\u00a0breach, every drop flows downstream \u2013 to Nashwaak communities, to Fredericton, to farms, to the Wolastoq, all the way to the Bay of Fundy.\u201c<\/p>\n It\u2019s also alarmed some First Nations members, including Indigenous grandmothers, who occupied the proposed mine site in the past by setting up camp there.<\/p>\n The Wolastoqey Nation\u2019s six chiefs signed an accommodation agreement with the province in 2017. But in January of this year, one of those chiefs, Patricia Bernard of Madawaska First Nation, told Brunswick News in January of this year they were \u201ckind of duped\u201d on the agreement, and that the province hadn\u2019t fulfilled a number of its points including a promise by the provincial government to find property that would replace Crown or public land for the mine that the Wolastoqey Nation considers their traditional territory.<\/p>\n Advertisement 5<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Department of Natural Resources Minister John Herron said Friday he met with First Nations earlier in the week to speak on a number of issues.<\/p>\n \u201cOverall, that conversation went well with respect to Sisson,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Herron said 28 of the environmental impact assessment\u2019s approximately 40 conditions \u201chave to be really in play\u201d before the project can get underway, but \u201csome of the conditions come in to play after the mine begins, or just at the moment that the mine begins.\u201d<\/p>\n He also said his department is \u201cvery much live\u201d to concerns had over tailings, \u201cin particular with the proposed Sisson Mine itself.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow we approach the issue of the treatment of tailings, I think that will be very much a test,\u201d said Herron, noting the Department of Environment and Local Governance had engaged a tailings \u201cthought leader.\u201d<\/p>\n The news release from the Nashwaak Rural Community said \u201ccouncil remains concerned that key environmental impact assessment requirements remain outstanding and that the proponents have not meaningfully engaged with council to date.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement 6<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cThe Nashwaak River runs right through the heart of my community, and it\u2019s in the blood of everybody in the community,\u201d said Sweeney.<\/p>\n The mayor said his council \u201csupports development that is done responsibly and with full transparency,\u201d later adding he spoke with the DNR minister about the matter on Wednesday at a meeting of the Capital Region Service Commission.<\/p>\n \u201cI \u2026 was concerned about the communication aspect to it, and (the minister) just let me know that they\u2019re just getting into the process of getting the company up to speed on what they\u2019re doing,\u201d Sweeney said.<\/p>\n The mayor says he wants to ensure his community is consulted before the project goes ahead, which he\u2019s been told could happen next year.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re right at the beginning stages of this, so we\u2019re just trying to collect as much information as we can\u201d from Northcliff and the provincial and federal governments, said Sweeney.<\/p>\n Advertisement 7<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cThe organizations and the bigger groups are going to the (other levels of) government and asking questions, but the people that are directly affected are in my community, and they\u2019re coming to council, they\u2019re coming to me, and they\u2019re asking me questions,\u201d he said \u2013 questions his municipality doesn\u2019t always have the answers to.<\/p>\n Herron said he\u2019s told Northcliff, whose only holding is the Sisson Mine opportunity but only office is in Vancouver, and their parent company, the New Zealand-based Todd Corporation, that \u201cover time, there would need to be more boots on the ground, from a head office perspective, in Fredericton than in Vancouver.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve made it clear (to the company) that community engagement is absolutely vital.\u201d<\/p>\n Sweeney said he thinks they\u2019re getting there after his recent CRSC meeting with the minister, that included Grand Lake Mayor Kevin Nicklin, New Maryland Mayor Judy Wilson-Shee and Fredericton Coun. Greg Ericson, among a number of local representatives that had touched base with Herron when the mine was shortlisted in November.<\/p>\n Advertisement 8<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cI think they understood it all along, they just didn\u2019t know how to get to that stage. But I think it\u2019s coming along.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m quite heartened that the mayor, Sweeney, had that reaction,\u201d Herron said, reiterating what the rural mayor had said about the process just getting started.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to underscore this was a first of what I would envision to be many meetings of this nature,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cConsultation can never be seen as a singular event.\u201d<\/p>\n Striking a balance between the economic development that comes with the mine and protecting their beloved watershed is difficult, Sweeney added.<\/p>\n \u201cYou want the prosperity for your community, but if the river\u2019s not there in 30 years time, or it\u2019s been destroyed because of something that \u2026 we could have had some form of stopping it, or having a conversation about what could happen, it\u2019s difficult for council to tread through this.\u201d<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Share this article in your social network<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Breadcrumb Trail Links Daily GleanerFredericton & WestNew BrunswickThe IssuesEnergy & Environment Mayor cites lack of dialogue, threat of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":458970,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-458969","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-environment","11":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=458969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/458970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=458969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=458969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=458969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Stanley\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0205-dg-sisson-mine-4.jpg\")
The former Stanley village office on Main Street now serves as the Nashwaak Rural Community office. BRUNSWICK NEWS ARCHIVESArticle content<\/p>\n![\"Telegraph-Journal\"](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/20.5.3\/websites\/images\/identity\/logo-identity-tj.svg\"){kind=logo}
<\/p>\n![\"Mount](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0205-dg-sisson-mine-1.jpg\")
August 6, 2014 \u2013 John Jones, who lived in Mitchell Bay on Quesnel Lake at the time of the spill, wades into the contaminated water to clean up debris that had drifted onto his waterfront property. POSTMEDIA ARCHIVES<\/p>\n![\"opening](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1695845024791-TJ_-_V2.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"David](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0205-dg-sisson-mine.jpg\")
David Sweeney, mayor of Nashwaak Rural Community. BRUNSWICK NEWS ARCHIVES<\/p>\n![\"Nashwaak](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1113-lb-stanley.jpg\")
The Sisson mine would be built near the headwaters of the Nashwaak, the pristine river that meanders through several communities in central New Brunswick before draining into the St. John River at Fredericton. Photo by John Chilibeck\/Brunswick News<\/p>\n