Communities sacrificed – Mount Polley five years later

OPINION: Imperial Metals Corp. and the Mt. Polley Mine have shut down operations for an indefinite period.

Quesnel Lake. PNG

We are a community that was sacrificed by a mining company and the B.C. government for the sake of jobs, which after two years no longer exist.

Three hundred and fifty jobs have disappeared in the small Interior communities of Likely and Williams Lake in the Cariboo, and left behind are 25 million cubic metres of mine waste and two 24-inch pipes that deliver an average discharge of up to 29,000 cubic metres per day of mine waste into a once pristine salmon-bearing waterway, Quesnel Lake.

It is now five years since the worst mining disaster in Canadian history and no charges have been laid against the mining company. Not one dollar in penalties has been levied. This doesn’t appear to be “normal” practice in other provinces.

Imperial Metals Corp. and the Mount Polley mine have shut down operations for an indefinite period, which is unfortunate for employees, suppliers and the Williams Lake and Likely economies. And yet many outstanding questions and concerns remain about how we ended up where we are now, particularly in regards to what the mine closure means to the once-pristine environment in and around Quesnel Lake.

Despite the promises made by the mine in the 1990s — that there would be no mine-water discharge from the mine site, and particularly into Quesnel Lake — the B.C. government has allowed it to discharge basically untreated mine effluent (at best filtered only) directly into the depths of the west arm of Quesnel Lake — a critical habitat for wild salmon in the Fraser River watershed and a source of drinking water and enjoyment for British Columbians.

The refined and improved copper and aluminum removal system should have been in place before the end of 2017, a deadline ignored by the mine for over two years. Now they are requesting an indefinite extension — no deadline date provided. The Mount Polley mine is out of compliance with the permit, and has had more than a dozen (and growing) non-compliance issues since.

At what point will the B.C. government stop granting this company special treatment?

It is obvious now that the Mount Polley Mine is planning to use the pipeline into Quesnel Lake as part of its indefinite future wastewater treatment system. Where is the B.C. government with its duty to protect the previously pristine waters of Quesnel Lake?

The Concerned Citizens of Quesnel Lake believe that the rationale behind why we vehemently disagreed with the permit approval to discharge mine waste is now being proven, by the simple fact that the mining company has not complied with the permit for over two years. MORE

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