Public Asked to Weigh in on Mt. Polley Water Management Plan
Likely, B.C. – Cariboo residents have been invited to share their feedback on Mt. Polley Mining Corporation’s (MPMC) plans for long-term water management of the site.
The permit application will go through a 30-day public consultation period along with a comprehensive technical review by the Cariboo Mine Development Committee.
MPMC submitted its formal permit amendment application and supporting technical assessment report as part of its long-term water management plan. The documents will now be presented for public consultation. The government says the feedback will help inform the company’s final water management plan expected to be in place by fall 2017.
The public consultation meetings start tonight in Quesnel at the Royal Canadian Legion. It will run from 7-9 p.m. There are four more meetings this week at the following locations:
- An open house and town hall at the Royal Canadian Legion in Williams Lake, Thursday, Oct. 27, 7-9 p.m.
- An open house at the Horsefly Community Hall, Friday, Oct. 28, 7-9 p.m.
- An open house at the Big Lake Community Hall, Saturday, Oct. 29, 3-5 p.m.
- An open house and town hall at the Likely Community Hall, Sunday, Oct. 30, 3-5 p.m.
The company had previously submitted its draft technical assessment report for the long-term water management plan which underwent an internal government-to-government review.
It involved the Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Energy and Mines, Williams Lake Indian Band and Soda Creek Indian Band.
The results of that review have helped inform MPMC’s formal permit amendment application and supporting technical assessment report.
Mt. Polley is applying to discharge treated mine effluent to both Quesnel Lake at a depth of 40 to 50 metres, as well as to Bootjack Lake via groundwater.
Those unable to attend a public consultation meeting can email them with the subject line “Comments on technical assessment report” to MtPolleyEnvironmental.Enquiries@gov.bc.ca by November 24, 2016.
You can view MPMC’s permit amendment application and supporting technical assessment report by clicking here.
Comments
Here is an idea, have Environment Canada’s, National Water Research Institute, in Burlington, ON; Natural Resources Canada’s, Mining and Mineral Sciences Laboratory, in Smithers, BC; the University of British Columbia, NSERC Cominco Chair in Minerals and the Environment, in Vancouver, BC; and Environment Canada’s, Pollution Prevention and Assessment office, in Vancouver, BC all review the Mount Polley Mine’s water management plan to see if it “holds water” with respect to any negative effects on the surrounding water tables.
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