Vale denies wrongdoing after Environment Canada water pollution claims

New court documents obtained by CBC News allegeVale knew it was polluting Sudbury-area waters for 15 years and didn'taddress it until Environment Canada got involved.

Environment Canada used a warrant to searchVale's offices earlier this month.The enforcement officersaid he hadreasonable grounds to suspect the company knew it wasleaking contaminants into waterways since 1997.

In an Information to Obtain the search warrant, Officer Gordon Moore said Vale, which was formerly known as Inco, did not act on the water seepage issue until Environment Canada issued a direction to deal with the pollution in 2012 after a nearby resident noticed a foamy, lime green substance in a creek and reported it to authorities. Moore saidsamples taken from the creekhad nickel levels68 times the allowed concentration.

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The warrant documents suggest Vale knew about the seepagefrom theslag what is left over from the smelting process into nearby waterways for 15 years before the government intervened.

Officer Moore referred to a1997 hydrologyreport identifying water from the slag pile leaving the Vale premises. He said studies from that timeshow the seepage from the slag pile area contained high levels of nickel and other metals.

The reportgoes on to say the water treatment plant was not adequately sized to treat the water flow during spring months.

We have reviewed the warrant documents ... and disagree with the conclusions being drawn.- Vale statement

A 2001report found contaminated water was seeping from the slag pile into NolinCreek, which presented an environmental risk.

Moore added he interviewed a Vale manager and lawyer during the investigation and "found them not to give clear, forthright and complete answers to all questions."

A Vale lawyer suggested the cause of the green-coloured substance in the water could be from anti-freeze entering the storm sewer system, according to Moore.

Vale says they acted swiftly

Vale saidit does not agree with the conclusions made by the government agency in the search warrant documents.

"We have reviewed the warrant documents filed with the court by Environment Canada and disagree with the conclusions being drawn," Vale said in a statement.

The company added it took immediate measures to address the issue once it was discovered in 2012 and has co-operated with government regulators.

The area where slag is dumped has been in use since 1929.

Information in the warrant documents has not been proven in court and no charges have been laid.

You can view a portion ofthe documents obtained by CBC News here.