Bclibs allow discharge into lake from mtpolly

[maryjane48]

This afternoon the BC MOE released the news that they have approved MPMC's application to discharge treated mine effluent into Quesnel Lake, until December 2022.


Click here for the Explanatory Memo
Click here for the Infographics of how this is going to work
Click here for the Permit

There isn't much left to say to day, but I have enclosed the thoughts of one of our CCQL members

"This is a sad day! One of the saddest I've experienced- we've just lost one of the most pristine- naturally pure bodies of water in this province and certainly in this country! Probably North America- FOR WHAT! GREED of Industry


https://www.ccql.ca/single-post/2017/04 ... esnel-Lake



so on top of mt polley first act of willfull neglegence then highland valley dam burst and now we have clark allowing mt polley to discharge into quesnel lake . i say we divert the discharge to lake okanagan and let the clark supporters deal with it .

[maryjane48]

is authorized to discharge effluent to the land and to surface water from a copper-gold mine
and mill complex located near Likely, British Columbia, subject to the terms and conditions
listed below. Contravention of any of these conditions is a violation of the
Environmental Management Act and may lead to prosecution.
This permit amendment supersedes and amends all previous versions of Permit 11678
issued under Part 2, Section 14 of the Environmental Management Act.
1 AUTHORIZED DISCHARGES
1.1 This section applies to the discharge of effluent from a Copper-Gold Mine and
Ore Concentrator to a Tailings Impoundment. The site reference number for
this discharge is E225309.
1.1.1 The monthly average rate of discharge of tailings slurry is 55,500 cubic
meters per day.
1.1.2 The authorized discharge period is continuous.
1.1.3 The characteristics of the discharge must be typical of concentrator
tailings from the milling of ore or metal contaminated soil, mill site
runoff, rock disposal site runoff, open pit water, and septic tank effluent
from a copper-gold mine and mill complex.
1.1.4 The authorized works are a septic tank, tailings discharge line, open pits,
tailings impoundment, seepage collection and recycle system, mine, mill,
and rock disposal site runoff collection ditches and sumps, tailings


1.5 The authorized works must be complete and in operation while
discharging.
1.1.6 The location of the facilities from which the discharge originates is within
Mineral Leases No. 345731, No. 410495, No. 524068, No. 573346, No.
933970, and No. 933989 as well as Mineral Claims No. CB16 204475,
No. PM5 206540, No. POL2 411010, No. 514039, and No. 514044,
Cariboo Mining Division, Cariboo Land District.
1.1.7 The location of the point of discharge (tailings impoundment) is on
Mineral Claim No. 514039, Cariboo Mining Division, Cariboo Land
District.
1.2 This section applies to the discharge of treated effluent from the Site Runoff and
Seepage Water Collection and Management Systems to Hazeltine Creek or
to Quesnel Lake as sampled at the Treatment Plant Outlet (HAD-03). The site
reference for this discharge is E304230.
1.2.1 The authorized discharge rates are
Maximum Annual Average Location
29,000 m
3
/day 26,000 m
3
/day When discharging to Hazeltine Creek
52,000 m
3
/day 29,000 m
3
/day When discharging to Quesnel Lake
1.2.2 The authorized discharge period(s) is continuous subject to the following
conditions:
i. The commissioning of the direct pipeline to the Quesnel Lake outfall must
be conducted per the requirements of section 3.5 of this permit.
ii. Discharge to Hazeltine Creek must cease prior to December 31, 2017.
iii. Use of the Quesnel Lake outfall is authorized until December 31, 2022.


.2.3 The characteristics of the discharge at the outlet of the treatment plant
must be equivalent to or less than the values specified below. The
discharge characteristics must also be such that, while discharging, the
concentrations of the parameters meet the limits for the “Edge of the
Quesnel Lake Initial Dilution Zone (IDZ) in Quesnel Lake” specified
below:
Parameter Interim (1)
(see section 1.2.4)
Final (1)
(see section 1.2.4)
Edge of
Quesnel Lake IDZ
(1)(2)(3)
Rainbow Trout
96hrLC50
50 % Mortality in 100%
effluent
50 % Mortality in 100%
effluent -
Daphnia Magna
48hrLC50
50 % Mortality in 100%
effluent
50 % Mortality in 100%
effluent -
pH < 9.5 and >6.0 pH units < 9.5 and >6.0 pH units -
Total Suspended
Solids
30 mg/L, and
15 mg/L Monthly Average
30 mg/L, and
15 mg/L Monthly Average
-
Total Sulfate 720 mg/L 1,100 mg/L 218 mg/L
Total Ammonia (as N) 0.41 mg/L 1.3 mg/L 0.18 mg/l as N
Total Nitrate (as N) 9.7 mg/L 34.0 mg/L 3.0 mg/l as N
Total Nitrite (as N) 0.78 mg/L 0.78 mg/L 0.02 mg/L as N
Total Phosphorus 90.0 µg/L 90.0 µg/L 10.0 µg/L
Fluoride 17.0 mg/L 17.0 mg/L 1.0 mg/L
Total Arsenic 3.4 µg/L 28 µg/L 5.0 µg/L
Total Chromium 1.1 µg/L 4 µg/L 1 µg/L
Total Copper 12 µg/L 33 µg/L 2.2 µg/L
Total Iron 1.0 mg/L 1.0 mg/L 1.0 mg/L
Dissolved Iron 0.35 mg/L 0.35 mg/L 0.35 mg/L
Total Manganese 3.4 mg/L 3.4 mg/L 0.84 mg/L
Total Molybdenum 0.36 mg/L 0.36 mg/L 0.05 mg/L
Total Silver 0.24 µg/L 0.24 µg/L 0.05 µg/L
Total Selenium 60 µg/L 75 µg/L 2 µg/L
Total Zinc 59 µg/L 59 µg/L 7.5 µg/L
Dissolved
Aluminum 0.75 mg/L 0.75 mg/L 0.05 mg/|
Dissolved
Cadmium 0.34 µg/L 0.34 µg/L 0.13 µg/L


The discharge must not exceed the “Interim” concentrations specified in
section 1.2.3 until the Permittee has conducted an acute toxicity testing
program on the Final effluent concentrations, submitted the results and
the Director is satisfied that the Final effluent concentration mixture is
not acutely toxic to aquatic life. The Director may require a lower
discharge limit for any number of individual Final effluent limits listed in
1.2.3 based on the acute toxicity results.
1.2.5 The Permittee must maintain the diversion channel and the two settling
ponds in lower Hazeltine Creek while the Hazeltine Creek Discharge
remains in use. The Permittee must cease discharging to Hazeltine Creek
immediately if the upper settling pond is overflowing into the lower
settling pond.
1.2.6 The Permittee must cease discharging under section 1.2 immediately if the
effluent fails to meet the appropriate characteristics in section 1.2.3
above, including the required parameter limits at the edge of the IDZ.
The discharge may resume only if a subsequent re-test demonstrates that
the effluent meets the characteristics in section 1.2.3.
1.2.7 The authorized works for the Hazeltine Creek discharge are the mine
contact water collection system, the Veolia Actiflo treatment system,
flow control valve(s), continuous flow meter and outfall to the Hazeltine
Creek channel, the lower Hazeltine Creek settling ponds, and the
Quesnel Lake outfall system and associated appurtenances as generally
shown in the attached Site Plans.
The authorized works for the Quesnel Lake Discharge are the mine
contact water collection system, the Veolia Actiflo treatment system,
flow control valve(s), continuous flow meter, direct pipeline to the
Quesnel Lake outfall system and associated appurtenances as generally
shown in the attached Site Plans.
The works specific to each discharge must be complete and in operation
prior to discharging via those specific works.
1.2.8 The location of the facilities from which the discharge originates is the
same as in section 1.1.6 above.
1.2.9 The location of the discharge is upper Hazeltine Creek at a point within
Mineral Claim No. 514039 when discharging to Hazeltine Creek.
The location of the discharge is the Quesnel Lake outfall at a point
within Mineral Claim No. 501479 when discharging to Quesnel Lake.

[maryjane48]

that above is a pdf from the bclib govt . it allows for 50 percent mortality rate of fish in quesnel lake . if anyone else did what clark is allowing they would go to jail . i dont understand how it isnt a crime to kill of a perfectly good living lake .

[Smurf]

Links to the pdf please.

[maryjane48]

wasnt able to . go my first post . the link isin that link .

[Smurf]

Thank you.

[LTD]

its treated water going in the lake

[maryjane48]

its treated water going in the lake

with a 50 percent fish kill allowed ? ok go drink some

[bob vernon]

Yes, it is treated water. Water that has been treated very badly.

The approval of discharges like this is just the provincial gumment doing what has been paid for. You really can't expect Christy to deny a discharge like this after accepting all that money.

[maryjane48]

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 it is not clear what the impacts are. Salmon run in four year cycles and yet they’re permitting more pollution.”


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.

https://www.desmog.ca/2017/04/17/b-c-qu ... esnel-lake

[alfred2]

Yes, it is treated water. Water that has been treated very badly.

The approval of discharges like this is just the provincial gumment doing what has been paid for. You really can't expect Christy to deny a discharge like this after accepting all that money.

how do you know tha water is treated badly, have you personally tested it, or are you going with the ndp say so.

[bob vernon]

No, just the province's say so. At least what they said was in the reservoir when the first failure took place. But that was long before the election campaign began, so it doesn't count.