Jon Burgwald, an Arctic expert at Greenpeace, said that mining operations can bring pollution and destruction: "There could be some very harsh environmental consequences."
Mikkel Myrup, chair of the Greenlandic environmental campaigning group Akavaq, said that dealing with waste and "tailings" from the mines would be a key concern, as well as handling the toxic chemicals that are used in some forms of mining. "Mining does not have the same risks as oil drilling, but mining can be very hazardous to the environment. It's a real worry, and we don't think that the Greenlandic government has the capabilities to regulate this in the way that's needed – they can't stand up to these multinational companies. The public haven't been given the full picture," he said from his office in Nuuk, Greenland's only town of any size, with 15,000 inhabitants.
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