Mines Minister Bennett gets shredded

[flamingfingers]

Sunday, March 22, 2015
The Bleatings Of Bill Bennett...Not Just For Domestic Consumption Anymore.
InternationalIncidents'RHim
Ol'TurdstormerVille


On February 24th, Clarklandian Mining Minister Bill Bennett gave it to the Juneau Alaska Empire for what he saw as a misrepresentation of the facts:

"It’s unfortunate your editorial has seized upon the Mount Polley mine tailings storage facility failure to undermine the long tradition of respectful relations and co-operation between British Columbia and Alaska on mining development and environmental protection.

A breach of this magnitude is unprecedented in British Columbia in over 160 years of mining. Major breaches of tailings storage facilities have happened all over the world, including in many U.S. states. Your suggestion, based on the Mount Polley failure, that in B.C. we are somehow less responsible in developing our mining industry than you are in Alaska, or that we’re charging forward without due care for environmental protection is based on a misrepresentation of the facts..."


Well.

The fine folks who run the little newspaper in the city sometimes mistaken for Ellen Page these days were not amused.

The following is from their response published March 22nd, 2015:

"It’s not often the Juneau Empire offers a rebuttal to an submitted column. Waging a back-and-forth war of words isn’t fair for the other party. We buy ink by the barrel and have dedicated staff to get the word out online as well.

However, we must respond to the Feb. 24 'My Turn' penned by Bill Bennett, the Minister of Mines for British Columbia.

Let us start off by addressing the first portion of Mr. Bennet’s piece when he states it was “unfortunate your editorial has seized upon the Mount Polley mine tailings storage facility failure to undermine the long tradition of respectful relations and co-operation between British Columbia and Alaska on mining development and environmental protection.”

Perhaps Mr. Bennett has forgotten about the Tulsequah Chief Mine. Southeast Alaska has not forgotten.

The Tulsequah Chief Mine, located south of Juneau on the Taku River just across the Canadian border, has leached acid runoff into the Taku River since its closure in the 1950s. The Taku boasts notable salmon runs, the same runs which in turn give jobs to many commercial fishermen. There were efforts to revitalize the mine, but those failed for financial reasons and to this day acid continues to taint the Taku...

{snippety doo-dah}

...In the next section of your piece you state the Empire suggested “in B.C. we are somehow less responsible in developing our mining industry than you are in Alaska, or that we’re charging forward without due care for environmental protection.”

Mr. Bennett, there are a number of mines in B.C. that have not done good things for the surrounding environment. The concern from Alaskans stems simply from the desire to not have history repeat itself.

Take the Mount Washington Mine. This 32-acre mine was operational in the 1960s, but beginning in 1966, after the mine’s closure, the population of coho salmon that swam in the adjacent Tsolum River began to suffer. What was once a run of 15,000 fish dwindled to a low of 14 in 1987. According to the British Columbia government watershed assessment in 1995, “the fisheries resource is believed to have declined (by 90 percent) predominantly because of acid mine drainage from Mount Washington.” At one point, the fishery in the Tsolum generated as much as $2 million per year for local communities. Today, the fishery isn’t worth the cost of bait...

{snippety doodle-dandy}

...We read the Mount Polley Report, Mr. Bennett, and we hope you did, too. It clearly states the best way to ensure no tailings dams fail is to discontinue their use. At our neighboring Hecla Greens Creek Mine, a dry stack tailings facility is used. This technology, as noted in the report, is not only recommended but proven to work. Today, Greens Creek is a profitable facility and one Alaskans can be proud to support because our environmental concerns were addressed.

That said, Alaskans are reasonable. We understand that every mine is different. We understand each facility demands a unique solution for tailings storage. But we are concerned that solutions to prevent or completely eliminate a dam breach seem to be going unexplored. Red Chris, for instance, is already filling its tailings facility. Meanwhile, we have heard nothing on whether additional environmental protections have been put in place since the Mount Polley disaster.

Furthermore, you state Red Chris “has not received a permit to go into production.” Yet, a press release from the parent company Imperial Metals on March 2 stated “the plant’s full 12-hour operating shift, without stoppage, took place on February 22,” two days before we published your piece. “The plant milled approximately 15,500 tonnes during that 12-hour period,” the release stated. In February, Red Chris processed just over 193,000 metric tons producing about 2,400 metric tons of copper concentrate.

That sure sounds like “production” to us...

****


Bring it on, indeed.

Read the Juneau Empire complete response here:
http://juneauempire.com/opinion/2015-03 ... ll-bennett

[Merry]

It's unfortunate that one of our Government ministers decided to "wage war" with a foreign newspaper regarding such a sensitive issue. Not very diplomatic, is it?

The fact is that, if our Government wants to convince the Alaskan Public that our mines are run in as environmentally sensitive way as possible, they would do well to remember that "actions speak louder than words".

It's been 9 months since the Mount Polley dam broke, and we have yet to see a single individual be held to account for what happened.

We've had the report stating that the dam was built on unstable ground, yet no action has been taken to hold either the engineering company, nor the individual engineers, accountable for their grossly inaccurate work. Should these folks still be allowed to practice, when they make such horrendous and potentially life threatening errors? Are they incompetent, or simply lazy? Does anybody care?

What kind of changes to the approval process can be implemented to ensure such gross negligence is caught in future? Has that piece of this puzzle even been considered and, if so, what was the conclusion?

The report also stated that raising the dam at such a steep grade was a contributory factor. Why did Imperial ignore the advice of the engineers who designed the dam, and why are they not being held accountable for having done so? Who made the decision, and was that individual qualified to make decisions such as that?

The only thing that has come out of the whole investigative process to date is a requirement that companies submit a report outlining the negative impact such a breach would have on the surrounding environment. Well, I guess that's a start, but it's a woefully inadequate reaction to such a major event. No wonder the Alaskans are worried! We all should be!

[Bsuds]

Just what we need, another Politician that only opens his/her mouth to change feet!

[bob vernon]

Just shocking that the BC Mines minister would say in a press release that a mine in BC hadn't yet been given a permit to go ahead with production. And he said this after the mine went public with a release of how much tonnage they'd processed the previous month. Incompetent.

[Merry]

This whole fiasco is an example of gross incompetence at every level.

Incompetence on the part of the engineers who originally designed the dam. Incompetence on the part of the Government approval process that didn't catch the original engineering error. Incompetence on the part of the mining company responsible for operating and maintaining the dam. Incompetence on the part of the Government for not making sure the monitoring process was adequate. Further incompetence on the part of the Government for failing to determine exactly WHO is responsible for all the incompetence at all the various levels and then holding those folks to account.

The bottom line is that the dam failed because of human incompetence at many different levels. WHEN is the Government going to acknowledge that fact and do something about it?

[biggoofball]

This whole fiasco is an example of gross incompetence at every level.

Incompetence on the part of the engineers who originally designed the dam. Incompetence on the part of the Government approval process that didn't catch the original engineering error. Incompetence on the part of the mining company responsible for operating and maintaining the dam. Incompetence on the part of the Government for not making sure the monitoring process was adequate. Further incompetence on the part of the Government for failing to determine exactly WHO is responsible for all the incompetence at all the various levels and then holding those folks to account.

The bottom line is that the dam failed because of human incompetence at many different levels. WHEN is the Government going to acknowledge that fact and do something about it?

you are correct and all governments provincial,federal and municipal have many gross incompetent peoples at many levels
although Provincial and federal are the worst Provincial being the worst

one extremely small example is FAB speaker of the house spending 46K to refurbish her office

[biggoofball]

Just shocking that the BC Mines minister would say in a press release that a mine in BC hadn't yet been given a permit to go ahead with production. And he said this after the mine went public with a release of how much tonnage they'd processed the previous month. Incompetent.

no surprize? a small example of incompetence. I apply for a hand gun and rifle licence. On the application you have to have your CLW or MW acknowledge your applying for a gun licence and sign the form
There supposed to phone her and ask about the whole deal(ridiculous but that's another rant later)
I get home and my CLW says guess who phoned me today? I say who? she says the federal gun people
I fall on the floor laughing she says whats so funny? I said guess what came in the mail to day

MY GUN LICENCE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!