Prince George, B.C. – Unionized workers at Mt. Polley are on pins and needles this holiday season.

United Steelworkers local 1-425 president Paul French says it’s in anticipation of the recommendations expected January 31st from an expert review panel established by the provincial government to investigate the root cause of the breach last August.

“We’ve got our fingers crossed that everything is good and that the dam can be rebuilt and that the conditions can be met and the mine can go back to normal.”

And though 36 employees were laid off about a month ago he says over 290 workers continue to perform reclamation work on Hazeltine Creek and Quesnel Lake.

“We’ve been semi fortunate that it hasn’t been bigger cuts so this latest one was a bit of an expected shock if you want to say that.”

French says he expects the cleanup work to continue but says future employment will depend on whether the company receives approval to fix the dam.

“All the test work has been done now they’re basically trying to get the hole where the breach was in a position that once they get approval from the ministry they can go ahead and repair that.”

He says the union is also pushing the mine to find an alternative way to operate.

“We think the biggest issue out there is going to be spring run-off. Are they going to have everything in their tailing catch ponds in place for when the spring run-off comes to ensure nothing more goes into Quesnel Lake? So there’s an opportunity to run the mine prior to getting the dam ready to go.”

He says all the question marks have the union feeling very nervous.

“We’re prisoners of the Ministry of Mines and the Ministry of Environment. They’re the ones that have final approval of any of the projects.”

In the meantime he says the the local economy suffers – in particular the largest trading centre, Williams Lake.

“People are feeling it. The amount of people working at Mt. Polley that are uncertain of their future – they’re not buying vehicles and houses.”

And in a statement from Imperial Metals, vice president of corporate affairs Steve Robertson says it’s “very difficult to predict” the future of the work force.

“Under normal operating conditions we can easily forecast what our staffing requirements will be, and those requirements are relatively steady allowing us to proceed with a uniform work force for extended periods. During this time of recovery and restoration, the personnel requirements can fluctuate significantly due to external conditions such as weather and permitting which are partially or sometimes entirely out of our control.”