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‘Heads need to roll’: Five years after Mount Polley mine disaster, prospect of charges stirs hope for justice

July 4, 2019 | It’s been almost five years since 25 million cubic metres of tainted water and debris poured into fish-bearing waters in British Columbia, and those who bore witness are cautiously optimistic that charges could finally be laid.

On Aug. 4, 2014 the tailings dam at Imperial Metal’s Mount Polley mine breached, and 10,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools of waste rushed into Polley Lake and Hazeltine Creek, flowing from there into Quesnel Lake. The area is about 100 km northeast of Williams Lake by road.

It was one of the largest mining disasters in Canadian history. The company has faced no charges so far.

“Heads need to roll over Mount Polley,” said Bev Sellars, a former chief of the Xat’sull First Nation, which was affected by the disaster...

Research is still underway to fully understand the consequences of the mine disaster for the ecosystems affected. One study published in the journal Scientific Reports found differences between the bacteria in sediments from areas of Quesnel Lake that were disturbed by the disaster and bacteria in areas that weren’t affected.

Some people no longer drink water from Quesnel Lake, Sellars said.

Jacinda Mack, another member of the Xat’sull First Nation, told the Star last summer that many people have stopped fishing from the Quesnel system, even though Interior Health said the fish are safe to consume. Sellars said she refused to eat fish from nearby waterways even before the spill for fear of pollution.

“We need justice. Something needs to be done,” said Christine McLean, a member of the Concerned Citizens of Quesnel Lake. The group is currently appealing a 2017 permit that allows the mine to discharge wastewater into the lake.

#climate policy #cdnpoli #mount polley #imperial metals #resource management #waste management #contamination

“I think it’s important when you’re dealing with an industry that has a temptation to cut corners…they need to know, given the consequences this industry can have, that they will be caught and there will be consequences for polluting when they don’t follow the law.”

In a surprise eleventh-hour move, indigenous activist and former Chief of the Xat’sull First Nation, Bev Sellars, has filed charges against the Mount Polley Mining Corporation, owned by Imperial Metals, for the mine disaster that saw 24 million cubic metres of mine waste released into Quesnel Lake on this day, three years ago.

The 15 charges, 10 under the B.C. Environmental Management Act and five under the B.C. Mines Act, were brought as part of a private prosecution against Mount Polley that can potentially be taken over by the new provincial government.

“We just couldn’t let it go,” Sellars said in a press release. “In my culture, we have a sacred responsibility not only to care for the land, waters, animals, and people living today, but also for the next seven generations to come.”

“I could not bear to witness B.C. simply stepping aside and giving-up on its own responsibility to protect our shared environment and waters,” she stated.

#Mount Polley #Mt Polley #First Nations #Indigenous #british columbia #Canada #cdnpoli #canadian politics #canadian #canadian news #Mining #Environment #pollution #Imperial Metals

In an unprecedented letter signed by both Democrats and Republicans, American senators flag a lack of provincial oversight of B.C.’s metal and coal mining industry as trouble for downstream communities

June 13, 2019 | The senators’ letter is the latest and most high-profile attempt from the U.S. to prod B.C. into cleaning up its mining act.B.C. mines have been fouling rivers that flow into the U.S. for decades with contaminants such as acid rock drainage. Selenium from Teck Resources’ Elk Valley coal mines, which share a watershed with Idaho and Montana, has killed and deformed fish, threatening native trout and Kootenai River white sturgeon.

Last July, U.S. representatives on the commission accused Canadian commissioners of suppressing data on coal mining pollution flowing from B.C.’s Elk Valley into Montana.

In August, 2014, a tailings pond full of toxic copper and gold mining waste breached at the Mount Polley mine in the central B.C., spilling an estimated 25 billion litres of contaminated materials into Polley Lake, Hazeltine Creek and Quesnel Lake, a source of drinking water and major spawning grounds for sockeye salmon.

No charges or fines have been laid in response to the disaster.

#international policy #cdnpoli #waste management #mount polley #climate crisis

In a press release the B.C. Ministry of Environment said the permit was granted after extensive community and First Nations consultation. Local municipalities as well as local First Nations were vocally against the permit, however.

The B.C. Ministry of Environment has quietly granted the Mount Polley Mining Corporation permission to drain mining waste directly into Quesnel Lake, B.C.’s deepest fjord lake and a source of drinking water for residents of Likely, B.C., as part of a “long-term water management plan.”

The wastewater discharge permit comes nearly three years after the collapse of the Mount Polley mine tailings pond spilled an estimated 25 million cubic metres of mining waste into Quesnel Lake, in what is considered the worst mining disaster in Canadian history.

No charges and no fines have been laid for the spill that cost B.C. taxpayers an estimated $40 million in cleanup costs and that B.C.’s chief mine inspector, Al Hoffman, found was the result of “poor practices” and “non-compliances.”

Some critics feel the new wastewater discharge permit simply grants Mount Polley the permission to continue polluting Quesnel Lake.

“The permit really adds insult to injury,” said Nikki Skuce, project director for Northern Confluence, an initiative based out of Smithers that aims to improve land-use decisions in B.C.’s salmon watersheds.

“Mount Polley still hasn’t cleaned the initial spill up. It’s still visible there in the lake,” Skuce said.

#Mount Polley #Mining #Mt Polley #Canada #cdnpoli #canadian politics #canadian #canadian news #Environment #pollution #water pollution #water is life #water is sacred #Quesnel lake

Economist says taxpayers will be on the hook for nearly $40 million; no charges for company responsible.

British Columbian taxpayers will be on the hook for $40 million to clean up the worst mining spill in Canadian history and the company responsible has once again escaped criminal charges after a private prosecution was dismissed this week.

In August 2014 the 40-metre-high tailings dam at the Mount Polley mine near Williams Lake collapsed, sending 25-million cubic metres of contaminated sludge and mine waste sweeping into lakes and rivers — but no charges have been laid and no fines have been levied against Imperial Metals, the parent company of Mount Polley Mining Corp.

Since 2005, Mount Polley Mining Corp and Imperial Metals Corp have donated $195,010 to British Columbia’s ruling BC Liberal party.

“The key message to Canadians is “this was the biggest mining spill in Canadian history and there have been zero sanctions and zero fines, and certainly that’s not because of lack of evidence of damage to the environment,” said Ugo Lapointe, Mining Watch Canada’s program coordinator.

#British Columbia #Mt Polley #Mount Polley #Mining #BC Liberals #Canada #cdnpoli #canadian politics #canadian #canadian news #Environment #Imperial Metals

Cancelling the proceedings without strong justification sends a dangerous signal to the mining industry in Canada, Lapointe said, adding it could further erode public confidence in Canada’s regulatory system.

The federal government is seeking to stay a private lawsuit brought against Mount Polley Mining Corporation and the B.C. government in October 2016, nearly 30 months after the collapse of the Mount Polley tailings pond spilled 25-million cubic metres of contaminated mining waste into Quesnel Lake, a source of drinking water for residents of Likely, B.C.

Now the federal government is seeking a withdrawal of the criminal charges before MiningWatch Canada — the organization that first brought the charges, which claim the company and the province violated the federal Fisheries Act — has been given the opportunity to present evidence.

“We were stunned that the federal Crown does not even want us to show the court that there was enough evidence to justify proceeding with a prosecution against both the B.C. government and [the Mount Polley Mining Corporation] for the worst mining spill in Canadian history,” Ugo Lapointe, Canada Program Coordinator for MiningWatch, said.

“To add insult to injury, the Federal Crown did not even provide an explanation for why it is doing this now, with such short notice before the Court date which was set for the last two month,” Lapointe told DeSmog Canada.

Lapointe said under normal circumstances a process hearing would take place during which evidence would be presented and after which the court would emit a summons and set a trial date. Or, if the court decided to stay the proceedings, it would do so with an explanation based on the evidence and provided to the court and thus the public.

The B.C. court will take up to several weeks to decide if the Crown is warranted in entering a stay of charges.

“We initiated this private prosecution out of concern that it has now been over two and a half years since the Mount Polly disaster happened and yet, despite clear evidence of violations of Canadian laws, no charges have been brought forward by any level of government,” he said.

No charges and no fines have been laid against Mount Polley, owned and operated by Vancouver-based Imperial Metals. The collapse of the tailings pond released mining waste containing copper, lead, iron, arsenic and selenium into fish-bearing waters.

#Mt Polley #Mount Polley #Mining #justin trudeau #british columbia #Canada #cdnpoli #canadian politics #canadian #canadian news #pollution #LPC #water pollution #tailing ponds

A ‘temporary’ permit allows wastewater to be dumped in the water. That may not change anytime soon.

The gold and copper mine deposited nearly 25 million cubic metres of mine waste into the Fraser watershed that day — roughly equal to the volume of water flowing over Niagara Falls every two-and-a-half hours. It left a toxic slurry that remains on the lakebed today. Data showed the lake rose several inches overnight, Watt says.

Seven years later, mine waste continues to flow from Mount Polley into Quesnel Lake under a permit issued by the B.C. government.

#bcpoli #mount polley #environment #toxic

Kickstarter For The Mount Polley Documentary "Turbidity"

Kickstarter For The Mount Polley Documentary “Turbidity”

The ECOreport reposts the Kickstarter for The Mount Polley Documentary “Turbidity”

Originally Posted on Kickstarter

By Robert E Moberg

It’s been a tough summer for many here in the Cariboo Chilcotin region of BC. Forest fires resulted in evacuations of entire towns and thousands of people, myself included. We are finally home and safe but still under an evacuation alert. As we approach the 3rd…

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#BC #Mount Polley #Mount Polley Tailings Pond #Robert E Moberg #Turbidity