The gold and copper mine, known as the Mount Polley, in the interior of British Columbia, will reopen nearly two years after its tailings pond collapsed, causing an environmental disaster.
A major breach at the Mount Polley Mine in August 2014, sent 24 million cubic meters of waste and water into nearby rivers and lakes.
The British Columbia Ministry of the Environment had repeatedly warned the owner of the mine, Imperial Metals, about the tailings pond levels prior to the devastating breach.
“We do have more work to do”
The company filed a report in 2013 saying it had disposed of quantities of arsenic, lead, manganese, cobalt, mercury and other harmful mining byproducts in the tailings pond.
The spill took place in the Secwepemc First Nation territory. Its leaders called for a moratorium on mining within their territory.
British Columbia’s energy and mines minister said Thursday that senior staff have authorized the mine to go back into full production, one year after it was approved for restricted operations.
“We do have more work to do, but we’re very deep into our overall effort in government to respond to this accident to ensure it can never happen again,” Bill Bennett said Thursday over teleconference with reporters.
Several environmental impact reviews conducted following the spill reported concentrations of metals in fish similar to those in fish elsewhere and surface water tests showed it to be non-toxic.
Bennett said the ministry has completed all the work advised by an independent panel. He outlined several measures undertaken to strengthen the new tailings storage facility, including extensive drilling to determine there is no more unstable clay. The clay was found to be the cause of the 2014 collapse.
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