Mount Polley Mine

[motokelowna1]

B.C. Quietly Grants Mount Polley Mine Permit to Pipe Mine Waste Directly Into Quesnel Lake
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.”

DISGUSTING

[hobbyguy]

Not so quietly. https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2017ENV0038-001156

"The documents were subject to extensive public consultation, including First Nations and local communities."

Ya, I know, the propagandists at desmog would like you to believe that something nefarious went on there... always triple and quadruple check anything those smear campaigners put out.

[Gone_Fishin]

Back to that Mt Polley story, the one mine approved by the NDP in the decade of doom, the 1990s. Typical NDP, they approve one mine, and it's the one that falls apart and creates a massive environmental disaster. I think it would be best if the NDP just went away and let the grown ups look after important issues in this province.

[Queen K]

Oh because approving the mine is exactly the same thing as building it with their own bare hands.

ETA: Do you have a news source link directly attributing the mine approval to the NDP? Or is this just a supposition?

[Cactusflower]

B.C. Quietly Grants Mount Polley Mine Permit to Pipe Mine Waste Directly Into Quesnel Lake
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.”

DISGUSTING

That's an old story. Do you know which political party was in power on the date that permit was granted?
Here's a hint: It wasn't the BC NDP.

[kelownman]

B.C. Quietly Grants Mount Polley Mine Permit to Pipe Mine Waste Directly Into Quesnel Lake
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.”

DISGUSTING

You are correct, the Liberals should be absolutely ashamed of themselves. Of course the liberal sycophants spreading this fake news story as an NDP ploy is laughable!

Mount Polley Mining Corporation has been granted permission to drain treated mining waste water into Quesnel Lake, a massive glacial lake that provides drinking water to residents of Likely B.C., northeast of Williams Lake.

Approval of the long-term waste water management plan came April 7, despite a disaster that put the water at risk in 2014 and a provincial investigation into the spill that is not yet complete.

But Environment Minister Mary Polak told CBC the decision was made by neutral civil servants based on science that confirmed draining treated water into the river, as opposed to the lake, was riskier.

"These decisions do not cross any politicians desk. In fact if I was to interfere with the decision I could be in some very serious legal trouble," Polak told CBC.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c ... -1.4074233

[Gone_Fishin]

Oh because approving the mine is exactly the same thing as building it with their own bare hands.

ETA: Do you have a news source link directly attributing the mine approval to the NDP? Or is this just a supposition?

This will cost you dearly. As a 2%er, you're already on tenuous grounds in the credibility department.

Quick Facts
open pit copper/gold mine
mill processes approx. 18,500 tonnes per day
commenced operations 1997
current mine life to 2026
concentrate trucked to Port of Vancouver
mine operations suspended Aug 4, 2014 due to TSF breach
modified mine operations restarted Aug 5, 2015
mine received authorizations on June 23, 2016 to return to normal operations
approval of long-term water management plan received April 7, 2017

https://www.imperialmetals.com/our-oper ... e/overview

[kelownman]

The deposit was first discovered in the late 1960s

Imperial Metals received a mine development certificate in 1992 – this is approval process in place before the start of the BC environmental assessment

The mine opened in 1997 and operated for four years before closing because of low copper prices.

It re-opened in September 2005 in part because another ore body was discovered and in part because the price of copper rose significantly

The mine is currently expected to operate for another 11 years.

http://www.mining.com/web/some-facts-ab ... lley-mine/

[Queen K]

Oh because approving the mine is exactly the same thing as building it with their own bare hands.

ETA: Do you have a news source link directly attributing the mine approval to the NDP? Or is this just a supposition?

This will cost you dearly. As a 2%er, you're already on tenuous grounds in the credibility department.

Quick Facts
open pit copper/gold mine
mill processes approx. 18,500 tonnes per day
commenced operations 1997
current mine life to 2026
concentrate trucked to Port of Vancouver
mine operations suspended Aug 4, 2014 due to TSF breach
modified mine operations restarted Aug 5, 2015
mine received authorizations on June 23, 2016 to return to normal operations
approval of long-term water management plan received April 7, 2017

https://www.imperialmetals.com/our-oper ... e/overview

Cost me dearly? Are you toting up the accounts, like a debit/credit acct for merely asking questions? How much do I owe you this time? Now if you had come out with those stats in the first place, who would have had to ask? And I believe your credibility has been challenged more than once. I'll open my own acct. book on you.

I believe that we've had a conversation in regards to this "2%'er stuff"

[Gone_Fishin]

So, back to topic. NDP approves one mine, that one mine is an environmental disaster because the NDP did not pay attention to the engineering implications of building a tailings dam on a clay slab. Imperial Metals donates money to the NDP. Go figure.

The NDP is incompetent. The NDP does not have the talent to make good decisions. The NDP is corrupt. The NDP should never govern.

[Queen K]

So, the NDP have taken a page out of the BC Liberal's playbook. Noted.

Your position isn't clear though, could you elaborate for us?

[Gone_Fishin]

So, the NDP have taken a page out of the BC Liberal's playbook. Noted.

Your position isn't clear though, could you elaborate for us?

The BC Liberal Party coalition had never governed when the NDP did this. The original Liberal Party, before the current free enterprise coalition, hadn't governed since 1952. The BC Liberals first came to power in 2001, after the corrupt Glen Clark NDP signed off on Mt Polley.

So once again, your attempt to defend the corruption and rot of the NDP falls flat. Do you ever research before you reply?

[Queen K]

So, the NDP have taken a page out of the BC Liberal's playbook. Noted.

Your position isn't clear though, could you elaborate for us?

The BC Liberal Party coalition had never governed when the NDP did this. The original Liberal Party, before the current free enterprise coalition, hadn't governed since 1952. The BC Liberals first came to power in 2001, after the corrupt Glen Clark NDP signed off on Mt Polley.

So once again, your attempt to defend the corruption and rot of the NDP falls flat. Do you ever research before you reply?

I believe you're going to regret challenging me on this one.


And In what manner did I defend? I am saying that even though the NDP signed off on Mt. Polly, the none of them were actually in there building it themselves. And the geotechnical information in the World was likely presented and accepted at the standard of the day. Do you not accept that " " happens? Even a small earth tremour could disrupt the best laid plans for dams.

Let's say, if a mine, dam or other such BC Liberal signed off mega-project fails in the near future I trust you will have same sentiments for them? They had 16 years worth, surely something will be failing years later on which we can seize on to and proclaim, "AHA! See they were no good afterall."

[Queen K]

:topic:

So, back to topic. NDP approves one mine, that one mine is an environmental disaster because the NDP did not pay attention to the engineering implications of building a tailings dam on a clay slab. Imperial Metals donates money to the NDP. Go figure.

The NDP is incompetent. The NDP does not have the talent to make good decisions. The NDP is corrupt. The NDP should never govern.

Then are you saying the BC Liberals took a page out of the NDP playbook here? Because if they did, the BC Libs turned it into an art form.

How much did that statement cost me dear? Or is that "dearly"?

[Queen K]

http://vancouversun.com/business/local- ... ges-remain

Gage pointed to data West Coast Environmental Law has put together showing that since 1990 there has been a significant decline in the number of convictions under the province’s pollution statutes.

A Ministry of Environment online database lists 47 court convictions under the Environmental Management Act since 2006, only one involving a mining company, the coal giant Teck Resources.

Teck had convictions in 2013 and 2016, the latest resulting in $3.4 million in fines related to releases of water with elevated levels of metals and chemicals.

“I hope the new NDP government will ask tough questions,” said Gage, of the failure of the B.C.-led investigation to reach a conclusion by the three-year time limit.

Calvin Sandborn, legal director of the University of Victoria’s Environmental Law Centre, said it is significant that one of the biggest global mining “disasters” has not resulted in charges in B.C.

He believes it underscores a benign neglect in regulation of mining, highlighted in a B.C. auditor general report last year that concluded compliance and enforcement in the mining sector are not adequate to protect the environment.

“Lack of enforcement, or lack of laws to enforce, shows the need for a royal commission of inquiry,” said Sandborn, repeating a call made earlier for an inquiry into the regulation and oversight of mining in the province.

However, Robin Junger, a lawyer with McMillan LLP in Vancouver, said it is not uncommon for both provincial and federal agencies to investigate an incident and for one or the other not to lay charges.

Generally — as he could not speak to the specifics of this case — there could also be reason for not pursuing charges including a defence of due diligence, said Junger, a former deputy minister of mines in B.C., as well as a former head of the province’s Environmental Assessment Office.

Ugo Lapointe, program co-ordinator for Mining Watch Canada, said the lack of charges under B.C. laws says to him that the province’s laws are weak.

“It needs to be fixed and fixed quickly,” he said.

Lapointe said Mining Watch believes B.C. laws were violated as a result of the dam failure, including potentially under the Environmental Management Act, Mining Act and Water Sustainability Act.

He said Mining Watch has its legal team examining if it’s possible to lay private charges before the three-year time limit ends on Friday.

[email protected]

twitter.com/gordon_hoekstra

WHOA, "provincial laws are weak"? Who was in charge of BC for 16 years? Sixteen!!! The BC Liberal Party.

Oh deary me and there has been a distinct decline in charges laid and sticking for environmental laws and follow through by the courts for ??? the time the GNDP have been in? NO, they've only been in a short time, must be during those BC Liberal years.

So you're correct Gone_Fishin', I really did have to do some research. So glad I did. I reclaim some of my costs.