June 22, 2026 - Next month marks the three-year anniversary since coal stopped being hauled out of the underground mine in Donkin, N.S.

Despite that, the mine has been inspected 23 times and been cited six times for violations of workplace safety regulations.

The Department of Labour has said the work orders were for minor issues, but the area's municipal representative said the violations are still troubling and he'd like to see the mine close for good.

"Just because of the safety violations and the history in Nova Scotia with mining disasters, we never want to put someone's life at risk for their livelihood, so I would like to see something else there," said Steven MacNeil, a Cape Breton Regional Municipality councillor.

"If you're still getting violations, that's absolutely a concern, even if it is just a skeleton crew, because you'd be concerned that it would go back into full production and maybe some of those safety concerns, you know, you hope, you want them to have been completely addressed."

The province shut the underground mine down in July 2023 after the roof in one of the access tunnels caved in twice in one month.

A small group of workers has remained on the site to operate pumps and ventilation equipment, keeping the mine ready in case the owners ever decide to restart production.

MacNeil said the mine site should be put to some other use.

"Going back into production for coal, from an environmental perspective, may not be the avenue," he said.

"I'm hopeful for a new type of industry to see that site as an ideal location. You could potentially capture methane there and maybe [build] a data centre.

"I'm just spitballing of things that could maybe go out to that area."

"This is one of the most highly inspected workplaces in the province and it has one of the most sophisticated set of regulations that's dedicated to mining, and particularly underground coal mining, so it's not uncommon for a few instances of non-compliance to be identified," he said.

Nauss said on one "notable" occasion, an underground emergency refuge station for workers was not in compliance with regulations.

However, the lack of workers underground meant that was not as big a concern as it might otherwise be, he said.

Violations all fixed

"Had this situation been present when the mine was in operation, yes, maybe a slightly different story, but due to the exposure, no, this wouldn't be considered a significant event."

Nauss said all of the violations have since been fixed.

"Now, if the mine wanted to change from care-and-maintenance mode into production mode, they would have to resubmit mining plans, have those mining plans approved, and then they would be permitted to proceed," he said.

The Donkin mine is owned by Kameron Coal, which is owned by the Cline Group, a large U.S. coal operator.

The mine was put up for sale last year, but there's no indication of a buyer, yet.