Skip to content

My Take on Snow Lake - July 19, 2019

Rumour mill questioning if temporary Hudbay kitchen and camp facilities on industrial lots might become permanent
Temporary kitchen and camp facilities being set up on industrial lots on the east side of Snow Lake.
Temporary kitchen and camp facilities being set up on industrial lots on the east side of Snow Lake.

As covered in this column last week, the kitchen for Hudbay’s Snow Lake camp burned to the ground on the afternoon of July 5. No sooner had the fire been extinguished than Hudbay contractors began hauling rock and gravel to a group of proposed industrial lots directly south of the razed camp kitchen. Since that time, numerous trailers, temporary power, water and waste facilities have also been mustered on and near the property. This has been referred to by Hudbay personnel as for “temporary provisional accommodations” and a “temporary kitchen.”

In addition to covering this fire, I also covered a public meeting that the town council held on the evening of June 3, where they advised the community that Hudbay would be expanding their camp kitchen facilities in Snow Lake and placing 160 additional rooms on company property at the top of the hill behind where the old HBM&S cafeteria and dormitories sat (behind the recreation facilities and bordered by Balsam Avenue and Cedar Avenue). 

As is normally the case in a small community, rumours abound! People naturally assume … as the company was looking to increase the size of their camp and kitchen and then this devastating fire leveled the existing kitchen, that construction of these “temporary” facilities on town industrial lots will most likely become “permanent.”

So, while in his office shortly after the fire, I asked Snow Lake chief administrative officer Rob Hedley if there was any permanence to the camp on these industrial lots. He said no, that they were temporary and basically came about as a result of the town helping the company out in a time of need.

Those unfamiliar with the history of the lots in question would perhaps wonder what the concern would be about vacant industrial lots being developed and used to house this camp and kitchen. Well, there are three or four local gentlemen who, over the past number of years, have urged to town to develop the industrial subdivision and sell them the lots. In the town’s defence, there has been work on this proposal, but every time it seems to be going somewhere, there was a change in town administrators … several in the last number of years. One administrator would get up to speed and begin work on the project and subsequently leave the job; the next one would have to start over.

Nevertheless, when the camp kitchen burned, and the industrial land was seemingly developed over night, these three or four gents – and others – sat up and took notice. With this in mind, I also asked Scott Brubacher, Hudbay corporate communications director, if the industrial lot area was temporary and if everything would eventually be moved from it onto the area that Hudbay proposed for their camp extension back in June. He was just boarding a flight and wasn’t sure what I was asking, so I rephrased it and sent a reply. Later and still between flights, he said that he wasn’t able to contact anyone to confirm this, but did say, “What I believe is the current site is meant to be temporary.”

Regardless of the thoughts and plans in respect to these industrial lots by those in the position to make them, I personally don’t believe the camp and kitchen’s presence on these lots will be anything more than temporary. There are a couple of reasons why I believe this: 1) They are zoned LD (limited development), which apparently would only allow for “temporary” accommodations. 2) The site (industrial lots) that this temporary camp is being set up on has been known to host high concentrations of arsenic and zinc. Arsenic concentrations measured in the immediate area are one hundred times greater than the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) guidelines for surface water (figure 21, BacTech Manitoba Corporation Environmental Assessment Report (BMCEAR), December 2012) and over 10 times greater than CCME guidelines for soil/sediment (figure 28, BMCEAR). The zinc concentrations are over 30 times higher than CCME guidelines for surface water (figure 22, BMCEAR). This being the case, one would think that there is little or no chance anyone would disturb what is under these temporary facilities in order to make this camp permanent.

In other Hudbay news, it appears that the search is on for a new CEO. In a July 10 news release, the company advised that Alan Hair had “stepped down” as Hudbay’s president and chief executive officer and as a director of the company, and that Peter Kukielski had been appointed interim chief executive officer. 

Hair had been with Hudbay for over 20 years and the release noted that he was instrumental in the company’s growth, serving as chief operating officer from 2012 to 2015 before being appointed president and CEO in 2016.

Kukielski has more than 30 years of experience within the base metals, precious metals and bulk materials sectors, having overseen operations worldwide.

“We have a strong management team and an experienced leader in Peter Kukielski, who will ably lead the company in the interim while we complete our search for the best possible permanent leader for Hudbay,” stated Alan Hibben, chair of Hudbay’s board of directors in respect to the change. “Alan’s departure does not affect our strategic or financial outlook. Our focus remains on executing against our value creation strategy and delivering on a number of near-term catalysts.”

Hudbay’s board has begun a search for a permanent CEO, which they say may include internal and external candidates. 

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks