Five Seriously Disturbing B.C. Political Donations
The 2014 financial reports from B.C.’s political parties are out and my face hurts from...
The Mount Polley mine disaster occurred on August 4th, 2014 near Likely in the Cariboo region of Central British Columbia.
Below you will find an overview section describing the Mount Polley mine disaster, followed by our latest news and analysis on the subject.
On August 4th, 2014 a four square kilometre sized tailings pond full of toxic copper and gold mining waste breached, 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. According to Mount Polley mine records filed with Environment Canada in 2013, there were “326 tonnes of nickel, over 400 tonnes of arsenic, 177 tonnes of lead and 18,400 tonnes of copper and its compounds placed in the tailings pond,” in 2012.
Following the Mount Polley mine disaster, a local state of emergency was declared for the Cariboo Regional District over drinking water contamination concerns.
Clean up efforts have led to a reconstructed Hazeltine Creek, although the contaminated slurry that made its way into Polley Lake and Quesnel Lake remains in the waterways. A drinking water ban was lifted within weeks of the spill and regular water testing is being conducted by the B.C. government, the Mount Polley mine, the University of Northern British Columbia and local residents.
An investigation into the cause of the spill revealed mine engineers failed to account for glacial silt underneath the tailings containment pond, leading to structural insufficiencies that caused the dam’s collapse. No charges or fines have been laid in response to the disaster. Several local landowners and business operators affected by the spill have launched legal challenges to seek compensation for damages.
The Mount Polley mine is an open pit gold and copper mine in operation since 1997 and is owned by Imperial Metals.
The 2014 financial reports from B.C.’s political parties are out and my face hurts from...
Worried Alaskans who fear lucrative fisheries and tourism industries are at risk from lax B.C....
This is a guest post by David Suzuki. When a tailings pond broke at the...
“I planned on dying here,” Skeed Borkowski, owner of the Northern Lights Lodge, told me....
“It’s hard to deal [with] and treat something if you don’t know what it is,”...
The Soda Creek First Nation, traditionally called the Xatśūll First Nation, is going to tap...
Imperial Metals is experiencing troubled times. After the catastrophic breach of a toxic tailings...
As we pull up to the mouth of the Hazeltine Creek, where billions of litres...
It has been 10 days since the tailings pond holding billions of litres of mining...
Rania Hamza calls it “a coincidence” that an engineer, a biologist and a lawyer at the same Toronto university were independently worrying about the harmful...
Continue reading