http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia
11 months after its tailings pond collapsed, Mount Polley mine set to get approval to reopen
Less than a year after the Mount Polley tailings pond collapsed, spilling toxic waste water in central B.C. waterways, the mine could reopen as early as July, says B.C. Energy and Mines Minister Bill Bennett.
“The public, I’m sure, assumes that politicians make these decisions and we often don’t,” said Bennett. “I’m advised by the statutory decision makers in this case that the information from the company is there. Its being assessed. It’s probable Mount Polley will get a permit to open in the next couple of weeks.”
Last August, a wall of the Mount Polley tailings pond broke and spilled 10 billion litres of water and 4.5 million cubic metres of sand laden with toxic arsenic, nickel and lead into B.C.’s waterways.
Design problem caused breach last year
An independent panel of experts, which formed The Mount Polley Independent Expert Engineering Investigation and Review Panel, found the breach was caused by a design problem that failed to take into consideration the ground upon which the tailings facility was built.
The panel put forward seven recommendations “to ensure that a similar failure does not occur at other mine sites in B.C.”
New Code Review Committee launched
Last week, the Ministry of Energy and Mines announced a new Code Review Committee will work to implement those recommendations.
The committee will be chaired by the Chief Inspector of Mines and made up of First Nations, labour unions and mining industry representatives.
The public will have the opportunity to submit written comments to the Code Review Committee on how best to implement the Mount Polley report recommendations between July 15 to Sept. 15, 2015.
For the rest of this article and a radio intereview, click here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/mount-polley-could-reopen-in-july-mines-minister-1.3133530