Mining Environmental Accidents, Pollution, Tailing Dams and Abandoned Mines – Page 62

Tough conditions for cleanup 50 years later of former Saskatchewan uranium mill – by Rob Drinkwater (Lethbridge Herald – August 31, 2014)

September 5, 2014

Edmonton – CANADIAN PRESS – More than 50 years after a Saskatchewan uranium mill that is a key part of Canada’s nuclear history closed, heavy machinery is once again rumbling across the remote northern corner of the province.

But this time workers at the former Lorado mill are cleaning up a massive pile of radioactive, acidic tailings that has poisoned a lake and threatened the health of wildlife and hunters for decades.

“I think we’re a lot more environmentally aware than we were 40 or 50 years ago,” said Ian Wilson with the Saskatchewan Research Council, which is the Crown-owned company that’s carrying out the cleanup.

The Lorado mill is near Uranium City, less than 50 kilometres from the Northwest Territories boundary. It’s where uranium mining once supported a community of up to 5,000 people.

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission says the town was one of several in Canada to rise following the Second World War and during a boom in uranium demand that was driven by military needs.

‘It’s a bit disconcerting’: Mount Polley mine tailings spill nearly 70% bigger than first estimated – by Gordon Hoekstra (National Post – September 4, 2014)

September 5, 2014

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

Imperial Metals’ estimate of the size of the spill from its Mount Polley mine tailings dam collapse is nearly 70 per cent greater than the initial estimate.

The B.C. government has estimated that 10 million cubic metres of water and 4.5 million cubic meters of finely ground rock containing potentially-toxic metals was released by the collapse of the dam on Aug. 4.

But Imperial Metals has estimated the size of the spill at 10.6 million cubic metres of water, 7.3 million cubic metres of tailings and 6.5 million cubic metres of “interstitial” water. That’s enough water and material to fill nearly 9,800 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Interstitial water is the water suspended in the spaces between the finely ground rock of the tailings.

“It’s a bit disconcerting — its speaks to the crudeness of the initial estimate,” said Mining Watch Canada program director Ramsey Hart of the increased spill estimate.

Imperial Metals did not respond to a request Wednesday for comment. Hart said there will need to be a better accounting of the spill’s size, including the volume of tailings deposited in the lake and in the Hazeltine Creek watershed.

No Apology From Mining Tycoon German Larrea For Worst Ecological Disaster In Mexico’s History – by Dolia Estevez (Forbes Magazine – September 2, 2014)

September 2, 2014

http://www.forbes.com/

Grupo Mexico, the mining giant owned by German Larrea Mota Velasco, Mexico’s second richest man, has been in the center of a political storm since one of its mines in northern Mexico caused the worst ecological disaster in Mexican history.

According to Mexico’s federal environmental protection agency, Profepa, on August 6 Grupo Mexico’s subsidiary Buenavista del Cobre mine spilled 10 million gallons (40,000 cubic meters) of copper sulfate acid into the Sonora and Bacanuchi rivers, 25 miles south of the border with Arizona.

The contamination turned the waterways orange and affected the water supply of 24,000 people in seven communities along the rivers, forcing schools to close for several weeks while environmental authorities clean up the mess; 322 wells were shut down and more than 3 million liters of water have been distributed in trucks and bottles. Authorities place the cost of the total cleanup in the “hundreds of millions or billions” of Mexican pesos.

“This is the worst natural disaster provoked by the mining industry in the modern history of Mexico,” said Mexican Environment Minister Juan José Guerra Abud on August 26. Profepa said the mine’s leach solution yard is where the spill originated and ordered it partially shut,citing “imminent risk to the environment.”

The government has taken preliminary action to fine Grupo Mexico more than $3 million for the spill and Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office has opened a criminal investigation into top officials at the Buenavista mine, the world’s fourth largest copper mine by output.

[British Columbia tailing] Mine Disaster: Who Will Investigate Gov’t Failings? – by Rafe Mair (The Tyee.ca – September 1, 2014)

September 2, 2014

http://thetyee.ca/

Mount Polley panel picked to be expert in engineering, not legal, technicalities. The blue ribbon panel team set up by the provincial government to investigate the Mount Polley mine disaster will find out what caused the tailings pond dam to collapse.

The second and critically important question, however, is what, if any, role the government of British Columbia played or should have played. In fact, this is the most important aspect, because B.C. had a longstanding legal, not to mention moral, duty which it appears from all the evidence was not fulfilled — and which, if fulfilled, may well have stopped the catastrophe from happening in the first place.

In the probe the government has set up, there is mandated virtually no investigation of the role of the mining or environment ministries. There are 14 terms of reference, 13 of which deal strictly with the collapse itself, one of which may be interpreted as giving the panel members the right to look at the government’s role if they feel so inclined.

It does not take brain surgery to recognize that this panel is unsuited to look at any regulatory role the government should have played. That’s not their bag. They are picked for their skills at investigating mining methods, not regulation enforcement.

To look at a government role and the law and regulations requires a specific sort of person, and it’s difficult to think of anyone suited other than a highly experienced lawyer or judge. To even begin to know the right questions requires a training that a scientist doesn’t, by nature, have. He or she may be highly skilled and trained, but not for this purpose.

When the Levee Breaks [Mount Polley and Pebble mines] – by Bill Carter (Huffington Post – August 28, 2014)

September 2, 2014

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-blog/

Bill Carter is the author of Boom, Bust, Boom: A Story About Copper, the Metal That Runs the World and Red Summer: The Danger and Madness of Commercial Salmon Fishing in Alaska. Carter is an assistant professor of practice in documentary studies at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Mother Nature has a way of reminding us that humility is a trait that humans too often lack. Take, for instance, the engineering firm Knight Piesold, which stated that “modern dam design technologies are based on proven scientific/engineering principles and there is no basis for asserting that they will not stand the test of time.”

Until they don’t. Earlier this month a tailings dam designed by Knight Piesold at the Mount Polley copper mine breached, dumping up to 10 million cubic meters of heavily contaminated water into surrounding streams, rivers and lakes in central British Columbia. Since the accident aerial photographs show a massive mudslide attacking the tranquil waters of a nearby salmon stream and dumping into Quesnal Lake. The salmon run will most likely perish, along with the entire ecosystem that the salmon and other species rely on for life.

Even so, the company is probably off the hook. Full disclosure: The quotation at the beginning of this essay is not related to the Mount Polley mine; Knight Piesold offered up the above assurance in defense of the proposed Pebble mine in southwest Alaska.

The Pebble mine would be one of the largest mines ever built. The deposit is huge, with a market value ranging from $350 billion to $500 billion of copper and gold.

A Wake-up Call for Canada’s Mining Industry – by David Suzuki (Huffington Post – August 27, 2014)

August 28, 2014

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/british-columbia/

David Suzuki is a co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation

When a tailings pond broke at the Mount Polley gold and copper mine in south-central B.C., spilling millions of cubic metres of waste into a salmon-bearing stream, B.C. Energy and Mines Minister Bill Bennett called it an “extremely rare” occurrence, the first in 40 years for mines operating here.

He failed to mention the 46 “dangerous or unusual occurrences” that B.C’s chief inspector of mines reported at tailings ponds in the province between 2000 and 2012, as well as breaches at non-operating mine sites.

This spill was predictable. Concerns were raised about Mount Polley before the breach. CBC reported that B.C.’s Environment Ministry issued several warnings about the amount of water in the pond to mine owner Imperial Metals.

With 50 mines operating in B.C. — and many others across Canada — we can expect more incidents, unless we reconsider how we’re extracting resources.

Sudden and severe failure is a risk for all large tailings dams — Mount Polley’s waste pond covered about four square kilometres, roughly the size of Vancouver’s Stanley Park. As higher-grade deposits become increasingly scarce, mining companies are opting for lower-grade alternatives that create more tailings.

Mount Polley fallout puts damper on Canadian mining – by Derrick Penner (Vancouver Sun – August 27, 2014)

August 27, 2014

http://www.vancouversun.com/index.html

Signs continue to mount that the modest rebound that Canada’s mining sector had been experiencing has been knocked off the rails by the blowout of the tailings dam at Imperial Metals’s Mount Polley Mine and the Supreme Court of Canada’s Tsilhqot’in decision on land title.

Shares of Canadian mining companies had been doing well in the weeks before the court decision on July 29, and then the mine disaster on Aug. 4, as investors anticipated better demand for metals for a booming global auto sector. But declines have been steady in recent days.

“People are being discouraged about investing in mining in general,” said Raymond Goldie, a senior mining analyst with the brokerage firm Salman Partners, referring to the recent developments.

He added that Energy and Mines Minister Bill Bennett’s establishing an independent review panel to investigate the Mount Polley dam failure, and then ordering the operators of all 98 tailings ponds licensed under his ministry to conduct independent safety inspections, is the latest fallout from Mount Polley that is clouding investor sentiments.

“That is going to dissuade companies from investing in British Columbia,” Goldie said. “(And) along with the Tsilhqot’in decision of last month, it increases the uncertainty about investing in (the province).”

49 ‘dangerous occurrences’ at B.C. mine tailings ponds in past decade: ministry data – by Gordon Hoekstra (Vancouver Sun – August 26, 2014)

August 26, 2014

http://www.vancouversun.com/index.html

Dike breach, sinkholes and leaked tailings among incidents

Dangerous occurrences at tailings storage facilities at mines in B.C. between 2000 and 2012 included a breach of a dike, the discovery of sinkholes and leaked tailings. The vast majority of the dangerous occurrences involved incidents with equipment, which crashed, sunk into tailings storage facilities or flipped over.

In several cases, workers were injured and two workers died. The B.C. Ministry of Energy and Mines provided details of 49 dangerous occurrences at tailings ponds at the request of The Vancouver Sun following Imperial Metals’ Mount Polley tailings dam collapse on Aug. 4.

The dam failure released millions of cubic metres of water and tailings containing potentially toxic metals into Quesnel Lake in central B.C., and has increased scrutiny at the province’s 98 tailings facilities, which store mine waste.

The chief inspector of mines’ annual reports provide an annual breakdown of the number of dangerous occurrences, but the mines ministry initially balked at providing details of the dangerous occurrences, requested 10 days ago.

Neither B.C. Mines Minister Bill Bennett nor chief inspector of mines Al Hoffman were available for comment Monday.

Alaska requests greater involvement in oversight of large B.C. gold mine – by James Keller (Globe and Mail – August 23, 2014)

August 25, 2014

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

VANCOUVER — The Canadian Press – The state of Alaska has taken the rare step of asking the Canadian government for greater involvement in the approval and regulation of a controversial mine in northwestern British Columbia amid growing concern that the project could threaten American rivers and fish.

Alaska’s Department of Natural Resources outlined its request in a letter this week to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, which has been reviewing the proposed KSM gold and copper mine, owned by Seabridge Gold Inc. The project has already been approved by B.C.

“The state of Alaska has important obligations to our citizens relating to the protection of fish, wildlife, waters and lands that we hold in trust,” says the state’s letter, signed by three senior bureaucrats.

They request in the letter that the state be involved in the authorization and permitting process for the KSM mine, the development of enforcement provisions in those permits, and the development of monitoring programs for water quality and dam safety.

After Mount Polley, a Recipe for Better Mines – by Maura Forrest (The Tyee.ca – August 25, 2014)

August 25, 2014

Science-focused journalist Maura Forrest is pursuing a master’s degree at the UBC Graduate School of Journalism and is completing a practicum at The Tyee. http://thetyee.ca/

Yes, we can create a more responsible, even sustainable industry.

Could the Mount Polley disaster have been prevented? It’s a difficult question to answer, with an independent investigation of the tailings dam breach just getting underway.

Certainly, concerns about the engineering of the tailings dam and the recent decline in mine inspections suggest the incident was not entirely unpredictable.

But if we change the question — if we look ahead and ask how similar accidents can be avoided — answers are easier to come by. And they indicate it’s not only tailings ponds that need to be changed; it’s our whole approach to mining.

Anna Johnston works at Vancouver-based West Coast Environmental Law to advance law reform proposals. She believes the philosophy of the mining industry needs a fundamental rethinking. “We need to have sustainability as the goal, not just minimizing harm,” she said.

Johnston said B.C.’s mining policy needs “a pretty serious overhaul,” starting at the very beginning of the process, when companies stake their claims to mineral rights.

Opinion: Connecting natural resources to our everyday lives – by Lyn Anglin (Vancouver Sun – August 22, 2014)

August 25, 2014

http://www.vancouversun.com/index.html

Many of us forget our reliance on raw materials

Now that the tailings spill earlier this month at the Mount Polley mine is rightly the subject of an investigation by a third-party panel of experts, British Columbians can expect to get some much-needed answers to why the mine’s tailings dam failed. The sooner we have those answers, the better.

But make no mistake; mining — done properly — will continue to be a crucial aspect of our society and our economy. While a tailings dam failure such as we just witnessed is absolutely unacceptable, responsible mining must continue.

I have often said an educational campaign is required to re-connect British Columbians to their natural resource sector and to explain how so many of the products we depend on every day are derived from this sector. It’s for this reason I agreed to chair the advisory council of the non-profit Resource Works Society, an organization dedicated to educating British Columbians about the resource sector and its important role in B.C.’s future.

It is easy to become disconnected from the importance of our natural resources. Most of us have busy lives surrounded by urban environments that appear far removed from the forestry, mining and energy extraction on which our civilization and much of our economy is based.

Opinion: Extensive safeguards already in place for B.C. mining industry – by Angela Waterman (Vancouver Sun – August 20, 2014)

August 21, 2014

http://www.vancouversun.com/index.html

Best practices: Tailings dam breach was an extremely rare occurrence

Angela Waterman is Vice-president of Environment and Technical Affairs at The Mining Association of British Columbia.

The breach of the tailings dam at the Mount Polley Mine is an unfortunate event that is of great concern to the Mining Association of British Columbia (MABC) and all our member companies, just as it is to people across Canada.

After this incident, the public, the government and the mining industry all share the same objective: to find the root cause of what happened and determine if there are changes required or actions to be taken based.

The B.C. mining industry is committed to producing the materials the world needs in a way that is safe and responsible for both people and the environment. MABC, its members, and mining associations and companies across Canada are closely following the ongoing investigation.

Tailings dams across Canada are operated under stringent regulations and are subject to frequent and rigorous inspections, and this kind of incident is extremely rare. There has not been a comparable event in Canada in over 20 years. Globally, the general statistics related to likelihood of dam failure is between one in a million and one in 100,000 per dam year.

Nuclear watchdog requests safety checks after B.C. mine breach – by Dene Moore (CTV News/Canadian Press – August 19, 2014)

August 21, 2014

http://www.ctvnews.ca/

VANCOUVER — A toxic spill from a British Columbia mine has prompted the country’s nuclear watchdog to request a series of checks at uranium facilities. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission will discuss the failure of the tailings pond at the Mount Polley gold and copper mine during a meeting Wednesday.

In the interim, the commission has asked the uranium mining and milling operations it oversees to ensure that all necessary inspections and monitoring are in compliance with licence conditions.

“The recent tailings dam breach that occurred at the Mount Polley mine in British Columbia on Aug. 4, 2014, has raised awareness of issues associated with tailings impoundments,” said a letter sent to Areva Resources, Cameco Corp. , Rio Algom, Willet Green Miller, P.J. Brugger and Associates, EWL Management Ltd. and Denison Mines Inc.

“This is a reminder that vigilance must be maintained by ensuring that tailings dams continue to be properly designed, constructed, operated, maintained and monitored to prevent such occurrences.”

The companies were asked to confirm that mitigation measures are in place in the event of a tailings breach. They’re also asked to confirm the safety of tailings facilities and report any identified gaps to the commission by Sept. 15.

Editorial: Once more into the breach – by John Cumming (Northern Miner – August 20, 2014)

August 21, 2014

The Northern Miner, first published in 1915, during the Cobalt Silver Rush, is considered Canada’s leading authority on the mining industry. Editor John Cumming MSc (Geol) is one of the country’s most well respected mining journalists. jcumming@northernminer.com

It was another week of major developments in the fast-moving story of Imperial Metals and the massive, 15-million-tonne tailings and waste-water breach at its Mount Polley copper–gold mine in central B.C.’s Cariboo region.

One major worry amongst the general population in B.C. is that they’re looking at a Lac-Mégantic rail-disaster type of situation, where the offending company goes bankrupt soon after the incident, leaving local communities reeling and higher levels of government with the task of cleaning up the devastation and a multi-million dollar bill.

That doesn’t appear to be happening with Imperial Metals and the Mount Polley spill, as Imperial was able to flex a little of its financial muscle on Aug. 14 with the announcement that it would raise $100 million in a convertible debenture, with at least some of the funds to be directed towards the clean-up at Mount Polley.

Playing a large and leading role in the financing is Calgary-based oilsands billionaire Murray Edwards, chairman of Canadian Natural Resources and perhaps best known as a co-owner of the Calgary Flames NHL team. Among his many business ventures in Western Canada, he owns a 30% stake in Imperial Metals, which might account for less than 10% of his wealth, which was pegged by Forbes at US$2.2 billion in 2011.

B.C. mining boom, recent tailings breach prompt environmental fears in Alaska – by James Keller (CTV News/Canadian Press – August 21, 2014)

August 21, 2014

http://www.ctvnews.ca/

VANCOUVER — Heather Hardcastle has spent her life fishing for salmon at the mouth of the Taku River, which starts in a remote corner of northwestern British Columbia before dumping into the ocean near her home in Juneau, Alaska.

She was six years old when her parents bought a fishing boat. More than a decade ago, she became co-owner of Taku River Reds, a small commercial fishing outfit that ships salmon throughout the United States.

In recent years, however, Hardcastle’s attention has been focused farther upstream in B.C., where a cluster of proposed mining projects has fishermen, environmentalists, aboriginals and a handful of politicians in Alaska concerned about the potential impact on the environment in their state.

And those concerns have only been amplified by a recent mine tailings spill in central B.C., where the full impact from the disaster on aquatic life remains unclear.

“It’s one thing on paper to say that you have standards that are high, but it doesn’t matter when you have a disaster like this,” said Hardcastle, whose concerns prompted her to become involved with the environmental group Trout Unlimited.

“There’s a real lack of confidence and trust right now.”