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.

The permit grants Mount Polley, owned by Imperial Metals, permission to release diluted wastewater collected in the mine’s drainage ditches to be piped deep into Quesnel Lake 45 metres below the surface.

“To the layperson that might sound okay, but in digging down deeper what Imperial Metals asked for was for a huge increase in the amount of heavy metals, like selenium, copper, arsenic and others, they can release into the lake,” Skuce said.

“They come up with this plan and it’s to continue pollution, to allow for long-term pollution to go into Quesnel Lake.”

“We’re only two years into the disaster and it is not clear what the impacts are. Salmon run in four year cycles and yet they’re permitting more pollution.”

B.C. Quietly Grants #MountPolley Mine Permit to Pipe Mine Waste Directly Into Quesnel Lake #bcpoli https://t.co/Gpv8yg97dK

— DeSmog Canada (@DeSmogCanada) April 17, 2017

B.C. Government Unaware ‘What True Consultation Means,’ Say Locals

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.

In a submission to the B.C. government, watchdog group MiningWatch argued the province should reject the long-term discharge permit.

“Ongoing concerns raised by members of the Xat’sull (Soda Creek) and T’exelc (Williams Lake Indian Bands), as well as formal opposition taken by local organization such as the Likely Chamber of Commerce, Concerned Citizens of Quesnel Lake, and local members of the First Nation Women for Responsible Mining clearly indicate that [Mount Polley’s] long-term water management plan, as currently proposed, is unacceptable.”

Jacinda Mack from the Xat’sull First Nation gathered 250 signatures from predominantly local First Nations who opposed the plan.

“There was extensive consultation,” Richard Holmes, fisheries biologist and resident of Likely, B.C., told DeSmog Canada, “however, the government, who should be governing fairly for all, has lost its way.”

“The government is bound by extremely weak regulations and law that applies to mining and the company took full advantage of this in spite of the overall opposition by the First Nations and especially the local residents who call this area their home.”

“The provincial government has no idea what true consultation with action really means. Consultation to them remains a catchphrase term meaning ‘this is what we are going to approve…thanks for listening to our plan,’ “ Holmes said.

“I would have supported their efforts to continue to mine if they were better environmental stewards,” he said.

Skuce, who has participated in numerous community consultation processes related to B.C. mines, said communities often feel government engagement is one-sided.

“Government often speaks about robust public engagements with communities and First Nations but quite often it’s an extremely technical one-way engagement,” Skuce, who participated in the public engagement process, said.

“It’s not a process that is meant to make people’s voices heard.”

After submitting comments to the Ministry of Environment during the public consultation process, Skuce was told by the ministry to direct her questions about the permit directly to Mount Polley.

“What is not clear is where my questions go. Are they just sent to the company? Does the government monitor the company’s intake and response to those questions?” Skuce said.

“And who is holding this company to account? Just us, the public?”

“It really sheds a light on the extent to which there is regulatory capture in this province.”

Holmes said the original permit for the Mount Polley mine in the 1990s prevented the company from discharging water from the site into nearby lakes.

“And look where we are now,” he said. “We feel deceived.”

Imperial Metals Major B.C. Liberal Donor

Since 2005 Imperial Metals and the Mount Polley Mining Corporation have donated $195,010 to the B.C. Liberals. B.C.’s political donation rules are some of the weakest in the country and place no limits on corporate donations.

Ugo Lapointe, MiningWatch Canada’s program coordinator, said it is concerning that major political donor Imperial Metals has not been held accountable for the tailings pond collapse.

“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,” Lapointe told DeSmog Canada in a previous interview.

MiningWatch launched a private prosecution against Imperial Metals and the B.C. government for violation of the federal Fisheries Act. The company escaped those charges recently, after the case was blocked by federal government lawyers.

Holmes said the lack of accountability in B.C. for companies like Imperial Metals, which are also major political donors, is troubling.

“It’s a worrisome trend in a democracy such as in Canada when the corporations dictate the outcome of government decisions through their lobbying for weaker regulations to say nothing of the scandalous practice of corporate donations to our Liberal government,” he said.

Skuce said the high level of political donations in the province appear to give mining companies outsized political influence.

“It’s hard for the public to have confidence that the high contributions these companies make don’t have influence in the process,” she said, adding the circumstances make British Columbians suspicious of favourable industry permits.

“What we have in B.C. is a government trying to say to the public that everything is okay now, that they’ve fixed everything. But the story on the ground is that they’ve continued permitting pollution and aren’t going to hold the company accountable for the spill,” Skuce said.

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The Environmental Appeal Board recently ruled B.C. was in its right to grant Rio Tinto Alcan a permit to increase sulphur dioxide emissions (SO2) from its 60-year old Alcan aluminum smelter in Kitimat.

The permit, granted in 2013, allowed Rio Tinto to increase sulphur dioxide emission as part of the company’s modernization of the aging Kitimat aluminum smelter. The modernization project, which nearly doubles the plant’s production, decreases the release of greenhouse gas emissions but raises sulphur dioxide emissions by 56 per cent.

The B.C. Ministry of Environment granted Rio Tinto permission to modernize the smelter but did not require the company to install scrubbers, commonly used in smelters to remove airborne pollutants from emissions.

Two Kitimat elementary teachers, Lis Stannus and Emily Toews, challenged the permit through the B.C. Environmental Appeal Board, saying the increased pollution would negatively and unnecessarily impact Kitimat residents.

Sulphur dioxide is a pungent pollutant released from the combustion of fossil fuels, such as the petroleum coke used to smelt aluminum. It is known to irritate skin, mucous membranes and lungs. Exposure to sulphur dioxide is also known to aggravate the respiratory systems of asthmatics, children and the elderly.

Stannus said she is disappointed in the December 23 ruling.

“Being a teacher of young children I see a lot of respiratory illness as it is,” Stannus told DeSmog Canada. “I will also now question whether any respiratory problems are a result of these increased emissions.”

According to a 2012 study published by Northern Health, Kitimat has a 60 per cent higher incidence of death from bronchitis, emphysema and asthma than the B.C. average.

Stannus said the Environmental Appeal Board made nine recommendations to Rio Tinto Alcan, seven of which “speak to health studies or the need to monitor emissions as to impacts on health.”

Appellant Lis Stannus in Kitimat, B.C. Photo: Carol Linnitt.

“We have been saying all along that there needs to be more study as to the health impacts on Kitimat residents before the permit amendment is granted to increase emissions,” she said. “It would have been prudent to conduct these studies before the permit was granted rather than after.”

She added the decision acknowledges the fact that sulphur dioxide can be harmful to human health.

“Any increase in respiratory illness should not be considered trivial when it has to do with an individual's health,” she said.

Kitimat Mayor Phil Germuth also expressed disappointment with the decision.

“We’re a bit disappointed in the decision,” he said. ”I believe the scrubbers should have been installed right from the beginning.”

Germuth noted he is not criticising Rio Tinto Alcan for the decision. “It’s the government’s responsibility to protect human health and the environment, not Rio Tinto’s.” He added government subsidies could play a role in the development of expensive technologies like scrubbers, to ensure a balance is struck between development and protecting human health and the environment.

Germuth said Kitimat is “thankful” to Rio Tinto for investing $5 billion in the smelter and “securing the future of the aluminum industry in B.C.”

But, he added, this recent decision has created uncertainty for Kitimat residents and future industries eyeing the region for further development.

“Besides the human health and environmental effects of SO2 in the atmosphere, my other concern is that having this much SO2 in the atmosphere could also potentially restrict any other industry from coming here that might have SO2 emissions as the airshed might already have too much in it.”

Emissions can be seen rising from the Rio Tinto Alcan Kitimat smelter on June 4, 2015. Photo: Carol Linnitt.

A 2014 report commissioned by the B.C. government found the Kitimat community and environment can handle increased industrial expansion, including more oil, gas and smelting operations.

Environment Minister Mary Polak said the Kitimat airshed can “safely accommodate” high industrial growth.

During hearings conducted by the Environmental Appeal Board, Brian Scarfe, economist and cost-benefit analyst from the University of Victoria, testified B.C. and Rio Tinto Alcan were externalizing the costs of sulphur dioxide emissions onto the health of Kitimat residents.

Scarfe told the board the overall cost placed on human health and the environment will outstrip the cost of installing scrubbers on the smelter.

“I don’t like to think of this as a zero sum game, but that is what we have,” Scarfe told the board. “Costs are going to fall one way or another, benefits are going to fall one way or another.”

“We can think about households on one side and RTA on the other: clearly if nothing is done to limit SO2 there will be costs to the environment and costs to households in the area,” he said.

A December 24 statement released by Rio Tinto B.C. General Manager Gaby Poirier states “there is more work to do to address community concerns regarding air quality in the Kitimat Valley.”

“In providing their confirmation, the EAB included a series of recommendations,” Poirier wrote. “Over the coming months, we will be working to fully assess them and we will continue to involve the local community including residents, stakeholders and our employees as we do so, noting that some of the recommendations have already started to be implemented.”

A Rio Tinto Alcan poster explains why SO2 scrubbers are not necessary at a public information centre in Kitimat, B.C on June 4, 2015. Photo: Carol Linnitt.

The fight against Rio Tinto Alcan’s emissions permit was one of the largest cases ever heard by the B.C. Environmental Appeal Board, the same body that ruled in favour of the contentious contaminated soil landfill site near Shawnigan Lake. During the lengthy trial the tribunal heard of a cozy relationship between Rio Tinto Alcan and the B.C. government and allegations of regulatory capture. 

Lawyers for Stannus and Towes were unable to provide comment on the ruling or whether they will pursue an additional appeal process.

Kitimat Unifor local 2301 is also appealing the Rio Tinto Alcan permit through the Environmental Appeal Board after winning the right to do so through the B.C. Supreme Court.

“Expanding the smelter without a scrubber is a terrible health risk to my community,” Sean O’Driscoll, Unifor Local 2301 President, said in a statement.

“We’re very pleased that Rio Tinto’s proposal will have to go through an environmental assessment. It’s a shame that it takes a Supreme Court Judge to force the B.C. Liberal government to do the right thing.”

Image: RTA

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