It’s no secret: British Columbia has a huge and growing mining industry — with a growing cleanup bill. But just how big of a problem is it? That’s the question I started digging into about a year ago.

Amid the sea of financial data, there were the seeds of a pretty big story. And so, to get to the bottom of things, we wanted to partner with another newsroom that has a track-record of delivering big, data-driven investigations.

The result: our first collaboration with The Globe and Mail, published this week, reveals B.C. was $753 million short in collecting cleanup costs — raising questions of whether the province and industry are doing enough to make sure the public is protected if mining companies can’t or won’t pay for cleanup. And what if another incident like the Mount Polley mine disaster was to strike again?

Working on the mining beat for The Narwhal, I’ve spoken with so many people involved in this massive industry. Many of them say we need certain minerals if we want a greener future fuelled by batteries and solar panels. While they might disagree on how we get them, one shared concern is how we avoid the mistakes of the past. 

Without enough money put aside for cleanup, the environment is at risk — and taxpayers could be left covering the costs. Take the abandoned Tulsequah Chief mine, for example, which will cost an estimated $72 million to clean up. The previous owners ran out of money, before making sure there was enough set aside.
 

Over several months, the teams at The Narwhal and The Globe worked together to bring my story idea to life. We scoured publicly available records, reviewed financial data and interviewed experts about B.C.’s mine reclamation plan. I’ve always admired Globe journalists and their ability to break down complicated issues and was excited to work with reporter Jeff Jones and data journalist Chen Wang. 

“I think the highlight of this collaboration is that The Narwhal and The Globe each brought their strengths to the table,” Chen told me. With years of business reporting under his belt, Jeff lent the story his sharp eye on how government policies were affecting mining projects. Chen’s data prowess surfaced trends and her visualizations brought those findings to light. Seeing the story published on both outlets on Wednesday was a big moment for our small team. 

“From the get-go, our vision with The Narwhal was to bring environment reporting out of the margins and into the mainstream,” co-founder and editor-in-chief Emma Gilchrist said.

“Partnerships like this are the future of public-interest journalism, allowing organizations to share complementary skills, pool resources and reach wider, more diverse audiences.”

As the province looks to a new era of mining, and production and exploration reach record highs, the next few years will be crucial in ensuring there is enough to foot the cleanup bill after profits dry up. There have been improvements over the years. B.C. implemented a new interim policy aimed at reducing the risk to taxpayers, and started collecting more of the securities owed. But there’s a lot more to come.

We’ll be here, bringing you in-depth accountability reporting and following the money. Until then, pick up a copy of The Globe and Mail this Saturday to read the story in print!

Take care and don’t mine and dash,

Francesca Fionda
B.C. mining reporter

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