Impact of Mine Disaster Far From Over
While you may get some argument, the fact is that the Mt Polley mine disaster will spell the end for many a mine trying to establish in BC. The mine that immediately comes to mind is Prosperity which had been hoping to get everyone on side , west of Williams Lake.
In spite of the elaborate means proposed of ensuring the mine tailings would not affect Fish lake, that sell will be tough indeed to a group of people who already were touchy about the deal.
But what does it do to the other mines, either proposed or under construction in this province?
Watch for new and more stringent regulations governing the construction and monitoring of the tailings ponds. While it is generally agreed that there was no advance warning that the dam would break spilling the tailings , that in itself will be reason for new more stringent regulations on how these tailings ponds are constructed.
There is a further issue that will take some time to play out and that is the matter of Imperial Metals covering the cost of the damage.
We do know that the company has insurance, the question here is how much, and as Peter Ewart, 250 News columnist recently pointed out , the Polley mine could go into bankruptcy as a means of escaping liability if the costs to restore the area affected by the dam break are too high.
It will be a tight rope, given that the community of Likely would be seriously affected by a mine closure while in the same breath, those who rely on the tourist industry for their living would be far less affected.
As the saying goes, it's a long way from being over and while we are getting good news as to the water quality from the spill, the ongoing issues are far more concerning.
I'm Meisner and that's one man's opinion.
Comments
“We do know that the company has insurance, the question here is how much, and as Peter Ewart, 250 News columnist recently pointed out , the Polley mine could go into bankruptcy as a means of escaping liability if the costs to restore the area affected by the dam break are too high”
This Ewart guy doesn’t sound like he knows what he’s talking about. The chances of a judge permitting the company to declare bankruptcy as a way to avoid liability are very low.
Channel your inner gus and check out some case law. I know, I know, facts are never as interesting as an uninformed opinion.
“While it is generally agreed that there was no advance warning that the dam would break spilling the tailings”
Agreed by whom? The former mine Foreman warned them. The Engineering firm that designed the pond warned them. Even the Gov’t warned them.
How much advance warning does one need?
Now Imperial Metals is facing a class action lawsuit from shareholders, because their stock value dropped by 40%.
Excellent editorial on this subject.
http://www.vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/Stephen+Hume+Independent+review+needed+following/10106669/story.html
Posted by: Pylot Project on August 11 2014 7:12 AM
Excellent editorial on this subject.
http://www.vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/Stephen+Hume+Independent+review+needed+following/10106669/story.html
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Thanks for that!
Ben, you just shot your credibility with me to pieces…no advance warning??? Not this man’s opinion.
“Only The Dose Makes The Poison” is the title of a well written essay in today’s paper.
It argues that the elements which accumulated in the tailings pond (a huge amount escaped, as we all know) are present everywhere in nature, albeit in minute amounts. Therefore, it states, that as long as everything in the spill gets sufficiently diluted into large quantities of water the result will be drinking water which meets Canadian guidelines.
On the other hand, for several days we are being that this spill is an ecological disaster of biblical proportions, that a cleanup (why bother if the above is correct) will be so expensive that the mine may never open up again and go into bankruptcy. The damage may be beyond repair! In fact future mine projects are now in limbo and in doubt!
When will the experts get together and make a definite announcement! Either it is an environmental disaster or it is nothing to worry about? Can we get the facts?
Is simple dilution the solution or are we stuck up the creek?
What is it?
Correction: On the other hand, for several days we are being told that this spill is an ecological disaster…
Let’s assume that the water that spilled is reasonably uncontaminated and will do no environmental damage. That leaves the sediment. It may be true that the sediment was originally part of the environment, but it is also true that it was underground and the spill occurred on top of the ground, so the sediment is now exposed to weather leaching, which it was not subject to before. The concern must surely be whether the chemicals that will leach from the sediment on the ground over the next thousand years (or whatever period is relevant) will cause damage to plants and animals it contacts. Has any report been issued yet on what the leachings from the sediment are likely to be?
What I don’t understand in the first place, is why a dirt wall was used to contain the tailings. It appears to me that a reinforced concrete wall would have been stronger and safer. Apart from cost, which I presume would have been higher, is there any reason for not using it?
Pg who said it was an ecological disaster? Some caffeine overdosed media boble head on tv does not quite qualify as an expert.
This is accurately being described as the most environmentally damaging mining accident in BC history.
A “state of emergency” was declared and the facts are irrefutable. 10 million tons of toxic tailing pond effluent was released into the environment. Take a good look at the pictures in the attached link seamut. In those pictures, how do you not get ecological disaster.
You may as well cut off your arm and call it a mere flesh wound, like Monty Python’s the Black Knight… how absurd are you?
oops… for got the link:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/mount-polley-mine-tailings-spill-imperial-metals-could-face-1m-fine-1.2728832
Pretty sure that if you ever go to Williston lake you will see where any muddy river (silt laden) drops its silt after several hundred meters in what is called a fan tail.
Quesnel Lake will absorb 99% of the mineral material, the water is not really a problem.
On top of that the “toxic” materials are not particuclarly toxic except at long term doses.
This will cost III around a 100 million dollars, the dam will be rebuilt to better standards and the 300 people will go back to work.
It is a wake up call but not an apocalypse. Of course it is easier to get people to read your headline if you make everything an apocalypse.
These corporations and entities in BC are acting like drivers passing through red lights of regulations to reach their goals sooner and then when in a car accident they sustain major damages to themselves and the public, they try to reduce the damages by insurance or connection with the government.
This company should be closed and its license taken away to send a strong message to the presidents and boards of other companies and entities in BC which are breaking the laws and regulations on a daily basis.
Did they break any laws? I haven’t heard yet.
Well this spill occurred, I was as surprised and shocked as the next guy. I was and remain thankful that the water test results seem to be coming back better than what most people feared. The news seemed to get better with each passing day. I am thankful that this “ecological disaster” might not be as bad as we all initially believed. I guess only “time will tell”.
With “time” in mind, I think back to a far greater ecological disaster, that being Mount St. Helen’s eruption in Washington State in 1980. The level of destruction was unfathomable! The top of a mountain, GONE! Toxic gases and material spewed into the atmosphere and onto the land!
Mount St. Helens was “the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in the history of the United States. The eruption killed 57 people, nearly 7,000 big game animals (deer, elk, and bear), and an estimated 12 million fish from a hatchery. It destroyed or extensively damaged 250 homes, 47 bridges, 15 miles (24 km) of railways, and 185 miles (298 km) of highway were destroyed.
It was the largest known debris avalanche in recorded history. The magma in St. Helens burst forth into a large-scale pyroclastic flow that flattened vegetation and buildings over 230 square miles (600 km2). More than 1.5 million metric tons of sulfur dioxide were released into the atmosphere.
The collapse of the northern flank of St. Helens mixed with ice, snow, and water to create lahars (volcanic mudflows). The lahars flowed many miles down the Toutle and Cowlitz Rivers, destroying bridges and lumber camps. A total of 3,900,000 cubic yards (3,000,000 m3) of material was transported 17 miles (27 km) south into the Columbia River by the mudflows.”
I’m sure that we all remember this cataclysmic event! A lot of time has now passed, not yet a lifetime for most people! In that time, the grasses have returned to Mount St. Helen’s. Trees are growing, wildlife and fish have returned.
In time, LIFE has returned to Mount St. Helen’s!
I say all of this because I am thankful that on the surface, so far the Mount Polley disaster seems to be less disastrous that the images initially led us to believe. I hope that the water tests are accurate. I hope that the effects on fish and wildlife are minimal, or at least minimalized. I hope that LIFEon the
Oops, don’t know how that posted yet, wasn’t finished!
I hope that LIFE on the creeks, lakes and rivers returns to normal as quickly as possible, with as few negative after effects as possible! But, I am confident that LIFE will find a way! After all, it always does!!
Hart guy, on top of the devastation of Mt. St. Helens most experts agreed that it would take multiple decades into the hundreds of years for nature to rebound. Yet in less than a decade nature rebounded in spades, over 30 years past now the Mt. St. Helens area teems with life that was previously thought never to return in our lifetime. Not to mitigate or lessen what the Mt. Polley disaster is, nature finds a way & is a lot more resilient than we imagine. Long before we are dust & memories this area will once again return to it’s natural beauty.
We had a great day jet boating yesterday up the Quesnel River to the Devils Eye Brow. This is the bigger rapid 7 km downstream from the bridge. The river shows no visual signs of anything. Not one transient piece of debris was noted all the way up, except that which was worn, faded and on shore lines from the spring flood. It looks as amazing as it did last year this time. We saw salmon moving. Had some good swims. The Quesnel River is awsome.
As usual, the clay stream banks input the opaque silty color into the Quesnel River below the Cariboo River mouth. That is natures coloring not mans.
Wow, comparing this “man made” disaster, which was “preventable”, to Mount Saint Helens eruption; which was neither “man made” nor “preventable”… such twisted and demented thinking, why am I not surprised?!
detoe43, I agree!
My comments have not been posted in any attempt to excuse the damage or devastation from the Mount Polley Tailings Pond failure. I have been very consistent is my belief that we dodged a bullet as we continue to see, thankfully, indications that things might not be as bad as we all believed them to be after our initial viewing of the scene.
Some of us are hopeful that although things are still negative, they are perhaps less negative than they could have been.
Detoe43, have you noticed that some posters on this site valiantly try to find something negative in every topic discussed here?
Peeps, how about you? Have you noticed this as well??
We all need jobs in BC but this is not the way to create them. Sad day for all the workers who have lost their job. This breach could have been avoided just like the mills that caught fire. The only thing that may stop this is heavy fines and jail time. Time for the damn politicians to do their job instead of just giving lip service.
Hartguy, that’s why I rarely come on this site anymore. Seems some “people” have problems with reading & comprehension.
So who is responsible for allowing such a negative “situation” to occur in the first place? Answer: lack of government oversight and enforcement, plus corporate greed that ramps up production and tailings pond waste beyond design limits.
Here is the political spin again, blame the people who are viewing this ecological disaster as negative (which it is), deflect blame away from the government and the mining company who actually allowed it to happen!
Some of us point out the truth and facts of the situation, others don’t want to face these facts and truths!
18.6? The percentage of children living at, or below, the poverty line in this province. BC has the highest child poverty rate in Canada… oops I can’t handle the truth, so I am going to avoid this site because I don’t want to be reminded of it!!
La La Christy and Harper World is suppose to be perfect, we don’t want to hear about environmental destruction and child poverty, because that is negative… “stay sweet everyone.” ;-)
Peeps you have no idea what you are talking about. Glad to see you are in full form getting child poverty and Harper into your rant.
Unfortunately your NDP gods brought in deregulation in the mid 90s so deflect your anger where it belongs if you feel that way. Why did the Liberals not re-regulate mining? Because there was no reason to do so and make industry uneasy. Maybe there is a reason to change back now, but probably nog as the company has not broken any laws and were in compliance before the breach.
*Scratches head* you and your ilk constantly bring up the NDP and their over regulation for “chasing” mining and industry out of BC and into Alberta during their years in government.
So now you are saying the NDP deregulated mining in the 1990’s giving them more freedom, which forced them to shut down and leave for Alberta? Taking all those jobs with them?
Too many fairy tales being told by you and your ilk, can’t even get them to agree anymore.
Peeps, please do all of us a favour…….go to Sleep!!
A good night’s sleep will do one of two things:
1. You might awaken in a more cheerful and happy mood, thereby making you more tolerable, or
2. You might simply wake up fully rested and ready for yet another day of whining!
I’m willing to take a change that maybe, maybe, maybe just once, you will awaken to Option 1! I know that it’s highly unlikely but I keep hoping! It must be the Optimist in me!
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