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Breach impact yet to be felt

Will put future tailing pond design, maintenance under more scrutiny.

When Imperial Metals’ Mount Polley copper-gold open pit mine near Likely, 80 kilometres east of Williams Lake,  had a partial breach of its tailing pond, which covered four square km., on Aug. 4, it released 10 million cubic metres of water and 4.5 million cubic metres of slurry into Polley Lake.

The surge of water and slurry plugged the base at the mouth of Polley Lake as the torrent of water, trees, mud and debris scoured a huge path out of Hazeltine Creek and poured into Quesnel Lake.

The breach created havoc for the small community of Likely situated in the pristine wilderness, and because the area is a popular wilderness eco-tourism destination, it quickly became world-wide news.

The Ministry of Environment and the Cariboo Regional District acted quickly to get a handle on the situation, as a state of emergency was declared and the assessment of stability and safety got underway.

A do-not-use water ban was put on immediately, but was later partially rescinded.

Water was tested to determine the level of contamination of the water and slurry that was released, and the affect it had on the local watershed. That testing is ongoing, but preliminary water test results look good with samples falling within the drinking water standards.

Mount Polley was opened in 1997, and Imperial Metals had recently expanded the mine and the earthen tailings pond.

According to the company, the mine’s ore body doesn’t contain acid-producing minerals, so heavy metal and other contaminants in the ground rock of the mine tailings are not dissolved in the water in high concentrations.

However, the investigation into the cause of the breach and the cleanup is ongoing.

Obviously, this breach is going to put the future design and maintenance of tailing ponds under more scrutiny.

The recent Supreme Court of Canada Tsilhqot’in Decision regarding Aboriginal title changed the game when it comes to resource-extraction development on First Nations land.

Already, First Nations people are pointing to the Mount Polley breach and insisting they have to be involved in future development plans right from the beginning in the risk and cultural heritage assessments.

They want this to happen before any projects are proposed.

Their concern centres on ecosystem protection for plants they use for food and medicine, as well as the animals they use for food.

Their greatest concern is the protection of salmon, salmon habitat and the water they swim in.

There is a lot of work to be done in the Mount Polley cleanup, as well as in the future of mining development.