‘Compliance and Enforcement Lacking in B.C.’s Mining Sector’ Reveals Audit
Prince George, B.C. – A new, scathing audit has put into question the provincial government’s handling of B.C.’s mining sector.
The audit was conducted by B.C.’s Auditor General Carol Bellringer.
“Almost all our expectations for a robust compliance and enforcement program were not met,” says Bellringer. “The compliance and enforcement activities of both the Ministry of Energy and Mines, and the Ministry of Environment are not set up to protect the province from environmental risks.”
The audit reveals monitoring and inspections of mines were inadequate to ensure mine operations complied with requirements due to insufficient staffing levels.
The 100 plus page report emphasizes “the critical need for regulatory enforcement” to help mitigate environmental risks.
Bellringer put forth an overall recommendation that the government create an integrated and independent compliance and enforcement unit and calls for the removal of the mining sector compliance and enforcement program from the Ministry of Energy and Mines.
She also put forth an additional 16 recommendations including a call on the government to develop a strategic plan that would detail the activities of an integrated coordinated regulatory approach.
In addition, Bellringer recommends the government “safeguard taxpayers by ensuring the reclamation liability estimate is accurate and that the security held by government is sufficient to cover potential costs.”
(A full listing of recommendations is available here http://www.bcauditor.com/sites/default/files/publications/reports/FINAL_CE_Mining.pdf).
Over the course of the two-year audit, she points out the risks became a reality when the tailings dam at Mt. Polley failed.
The report was presented in the Legislature this morning. Energy and Mines Minister Bill Bennett plans to react to the report later today.
Comments
No kidding… Mount Polley, one of the worst environmental mining disasters in the world, is the poster event for mining industry non-compliance and enforcement in B.C. Ensuring complicance, and providing enforcement, is a government of British Columbia responsibility, which does not seem to apply to mining companies who donate significant amounts of money to the BC Liberal Party election account.
Shame!!!
In a civilized country the mines minister would have resigned in shame but Bennett just keeps playing us all for the fools that we are for accepting this farce of a government . Only the public are responsible expected to take responsibility for our actions , inactions . Not so the government officials and their cronies .
From the final independant report:
“The Panel concluded that evidence indicates the breach was the result of a failure in the foundation of the embankment, a failure that occurred in a glaciolacustrine (GLU) layer of the embankment’s foundation.
According to the Panel’s report: “The Panel concluded that the dominant contribution to the failure resides in the design. The design did not take into account the complexity of the sub-glacial and pre-glacial geological environment associated with the perimeter embankment foundation. As a result, foundation investigations and associated site characterization failed to identify a continuous GLU layer in the vicinity of the breach and to recognize that it was susceptible to undrained failure when subject to the stresses associated with the embankment.”
The report also indicated that the failure was triggered by construction of the downstream rockfill zone at a steep slope. The Panel concluded that had the downstream slope been flattened failure would have been avoided. The slope was in the process of being flattened to meet its ultimate design criteria at the time of the accident”
The Glen Clark govenment and whoever was mines minister at the time takes the blame for Mt. Polley their signatures are on what was a disaster just waiting to happen.
In my experience this is a case of the regulator being captured by the regulated industry. Shared values and experiences make the rest of the world look like the enemy. See also Oil & Gas Commission and oil and gas industry; forest industry and BC Forest Service, etc. Probably has little to do with political donations, as little placer operations are the worst.
CL
Like with any disease one has . It can only be addressed if you know it’s name . The disease that our population has is ” regulatory capture ” .
Regulatory capture is a theory associated with George Stigler, a Nobel laureate economist. It is the process by which regulatory agencies eventually come to be dominated by the very industries they were charged with regulating.
This kind of mismanagement and lack of industry oversight is just not acceptable here in Canada. Or at least it shouldn’t be.
Tailings ponds are not fresh clean water – they should not be released into fresh water under any circumstances.
This one was a bit worse I think, but yet another example of industry failing to take proper safeguards for the good of the citizens of the country they are operating in:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bento_Rodrigues_dam_disaster
How can this be acceptable, and what can be done about it now that the disaster has happened? Nothing much is the answer, except try to learn from our mistakes.
Now what have we learned from the Mount Polley tailings breach disaster?
In my opinion there should have been criminal charges to certain management in this case, as from what I’ve read, this came as no surprise. Citizens are held responsible for their actions or inactions in criminal courts when others are harmed – why are corporations not held responsible?
“Now what have we learned from the Mount Polley tailings breach disaster?”
Easy one.
Don’t vote ndp as they approve tailing ponds to be built on layers of glacial till that has little gripshun & tons of sliptivity.
They are released all the time, the tailings settle and the water is treated, tested and released
The reason you have no compliance and enforcement is because IMO you are dealing with one of the most corrupt governments that we have ever had in BC. When you have to pay $25000 to sit at the same table with the premier to have your fortune read something is very wrong with this picture. Time for the people of this province to wake up.
As opposed to a party that pad their coffers by robbing from the poor and destitute on the island aka bingo-gate or have improvements made to their homes under suspicious circumstances. Had to think back a bit as the ndp has been in the weeds for so long.
Could write a book on greasy Moe Sihota.
The liberal fundraisers are above board with the costs to attend available to anyone who is interested.
WHERE does that cow crap deserve or earned the wage shes taking home of $277,000.00 per year.As far as these reports… well the truth hurts! ITS far time industry bucked up and towed the line on the environmental impact that it has. AS for writing books your beloved party would probably fill up a public library with the countless sleazeball back alley deals they conger up. Looks like a herring…tastes like a herring…smells like a herring…its probably a herring.
sparrow–easy one-yes easy to BS. Admit it your wooden rain barrel that you made should have had some steel bands put around it for support. Oh and besides you had to much water in the barrel. Sliptivity -where did they find that word?
Read the final independant Mt. Polley report and you will see it was a ticking time bomb from the get go because it was built on a layer of till.
Glen Clark could care less now as Jimmy is paying him above minimum wage,Way Above! Too bad it is a privately owned company I bet you would have a big jammer if you knew how much.
No answer for the ndp stealing money from the people they say they work hardest for- the poor and under privledged???? Liberal fundraising open and above board, ndp a shiv in the guts while grabbing the last few shillings from a single mom.
SHAME!!!!!!!
Sliptivity? as perWayne Cox ex BCTV weatherman: two opposing forces of nature Gripshun and Sliptivity.
Sparrow go play with the crows. tick…tick…tick, so what. They knew what they had, maintenance was lacking. building it straight up instead of proper backfill to reinforce the height. This dam was never intended to hold back this amount of water. The backfill they used wasn’t big enough to hold back this kind of pressure. Inspections were lax and its time industry was held accountable.
Unless you are ice P.eng specializing in geotech your reason for failure is meaningless and nothing but conspiricy theory and conjecture.
Profile of Norbert Rubin Morgenstern is a University Professor of Civil Engineering and an internationally recognized authority in the field of Geotechnical Engineering.
The head of the review panel, a man more than qualified and above reproach:
lieutenantgovernor.ab.ca/aoe/engineering/norbert-morgenstern/index.html
So in the case of Mt. Polly luckily no disaster, flooding of almost drinking quality water. Turns out the salmon thrived on the increase of nutrients in the water from the flood.
Most everyone blames the company or government but seem to give the engineering company that surveyed the dam site for construction a pass.
Haha thumbs down, shows they know nothing of the facts or ignore, but who needs facts if one has ideology.
Mountain Valley Copper will be the next Mt Polly. 15km long tailing lake over 200 meters deep and growing by two meters a year… all held back by a slurry sand dam that stands between the toxic tailings and destroying the Lower Thompson and Fraser Rivers.
What about all dams in the province? There is something like 5000.
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