Environmental groups want tailings ponds in B.C. banned
American environmental groups are taking aim at B.C.’s “industrial gold rush” and calling on President Joe Biden to call on the Canadian government to ban tailings dams.
Four American environmental groups are pointing to a report commissioned by the BC Mining Law Reform and SkeenaWild Conservation Trust that analyzes the risks of tailings pond failures in B.C. They are zeroing in on two mines in particular – one already in operation, Copper Mountain in southern B.C., and one proposed, the KSM mine in northwestern B.C.
“One major threat to U.S. waters is the Copper Mountain copper mine, located just 25 miles from the Washington border on the Similkameen River, which feeds into the Columbia River watershed,” the groups say in a press release.
“Mine operators have proposed a plan to increase the height of one of its tailings dams to 853 feet — 250 feet higher than Seattle’s Space Needle. This would make the Copper Mountain Mine tailings dam the second tallest in the world.”
For the rest of this article: https://biv.com/article/2022/07/american-environmentalists-take-aim-bc-mines