Rio Tinto Alcan’s Kitimat smelter (Rio Tinto Alcan/Canada Newswire) Rweprinted with permission from DeSmog Canada. Move over Duffy diaries. There’s a new black book in town. That’s the detailed work journal of B.C. Ministry of Environment senior official Frazer McKenzie, which recounts conversations between ministry officials and Rio Tinto Alcan while
Continue readingTag: Metals and Minerals
The Common Sense Canadian: Imperial Metals’ offices raided in Mount Polley investigation
Tailings from Mount Polley Mine pouring into Quesnel Lake (Photo: Farhan Umedaly, Vovo Productions) Read this Feb. 4 Vancouver Sun story by Gordon Hoekstra on the surprise raid of Mount Polley Mine owner Imperial Metals’ offices. The company and its Engineer of Record may have gotten off lightly with a government-appointed panel’s recent report, but this
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Mount Polley investigation: Whitewash follows tailings flood – culprits let off the hook
Aerial image after Mount Polley mine tailings spill (Cariboo Regional District) The recently concluded “independent” investigation into the Mount Polley tailings pond rupture essentially exonerates the various culprits in what was likely the worst environmental catastrophe in BC history. The report can only be seen as a whitewashing of the world record 25 million cubic metres of
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Digging out of Canada’s mining dilemma
A Toronto March in solidarity with Guatemalan Goldcorp protestors (Photo: Allan Lissner) It sometimes seems people in the mining and fossil fuel industries — along with their government promoters — don’t believe in the future. What else could explain the mad rush to extract and use up the Earth’s resources
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Red Chris Mine: First Nations win round 1 with Imperial Metals in court
Tahltan and Secwepemc First Nations and supporters celebrate at the BC Supreme Court (contributed) BC First Nations added a small but potentially significant notch to their legal winning streak yesterday, with a temporary victory over Imperial Metals in BC Supreme Court. The company was seeking an interlocutory injunction and enforcement order enabling it
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Imperial Metals asks court to remove Red Chris Mine blockade
First Nations have been protesting several Imperial Metals mines since Mount Polley (Photo: Facebook) Imperial Metals, the company behind the Mount Polley tailing pond disaster, is seeking an injunction today at the BC Supreme Court to forcibly remove Tahltan First Nations protestors from a blockade of the company’s newest project,
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Audio: From Site C’s economic folly to update on Mount Polley
The Common Sense Canadian’s Damien Gillis and CFAX 1070′s Ian Jessop discuss the economic disaster that the proposed Site C Dam represents from British Columbians. At a projected cost of over $100 per megawatt hour – and likely more than $8 billion for construction – the project stands to lose BC taxpayers
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Mount Polley disaster: More misinformation than facts
Likely resident Lawna Bourassa displays cloudy water taken from the shore of Quesnel Lake (Damien Gillis) Since day one the claim has been that the tailings flowing from Mount Polley mine’s breached dam were “stopped”, yet one month after the BC Day Disaster occurred, the Ministry of Environment found Mount Polley to be “out of compliance”, and on
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Mount Polley whistleblower lost job, then home
Larry Chambers warned Imperial Metals that its tailings pond was bound to fail – and he was fired for it, the Likely, BC resident told media in Vancouver earlier today. He and his wife, Lawna Bourassa-Keuster, have now lost their home on once-beautiful Quensnel Lake – too afraid to drink
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Mount Polley spill may be far bigger than initially revealed
Aerial image after Mount Polley mine tailings spill (Cariboo Regional District) Volumes of water, tailings and other debris released into the environment by the August 4 breach of Imperial Metals’ tailings pond at Mount Polley Mine were at least 70% higher than initial estimates, the company revealed on its website yesterday. Now, a report from
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Imperial boosts Mount Polley spill estimate by 10 million cubic metres
The silty mud remaining in Hazeltine Creek after Mount Polley tailings dam breach (Carol Linnitt / Desmog.ca) In an update on the Mount Polley mine disaster, owner Imperial Metals has boosted its estimates on tailings, water and debris released into the environment by the failure of its tailings dam on August 4.
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Suzuki: Canada at risk for more Mount Polley-type disasters
A resident of the region surveys Hazeltine Creek following tailings dam breach (Chris Blake) 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
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Mount Polley: Interior Health issues new warning against drinking Quesnel Lake water
Debris pouring into Quesnel Lake (Photo: Farhan Umedaly, Vovo Productions / Desmog.ca) An advisory from Interior Health yesterday raises fresh questions about the quality of drinking water from Quensnel Lake following the Mount Polley tailings dam breach. “Although test results continue to show that water sourced from Quesnel Lake is safe to
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Why not enough ‘red tape’ = too much red ink: Mount Polley and the problem with de-regulation
CFAX 1070′s Ian Jessop interviews Damien Gillis on the Mount Polley mine disaster and consequences of the BC Liberals’ de-regulation policy on the environment and economy. Why not enough ‘red tape’ leads to too much red ink for shareholders and taxpayers. (Aug. 20 / 20 min) The post Why not
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Opinion: Mount Polley demands full Judicial Inquiry – under oath
By Ed Mankelow The Tailings Dam breach at the Mount Polley Mine is likely the worst mining disaster that this province has seen and it could be getting worse. If the salmon and trout stocks of Quesnel Lake are impacted on their spawning journey to Quesnel Lake and feeder streams,
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Rafe: Bennett should resign over Mount Polley
In the old days of BC politics, Minister Bennett would fall on his sword, says Rafe Mair (Youtube / Got News Network) One day, in 1863, Mr. Byrne decided to take a stroll to get a little bit of Liverpool air. As he ambled down the street he went past
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Biologist documents blue film on Quesnel River following Mount Polley spill
Independent biologist Alexandra Morton has documented the appearance of a mysterious blue film on the surface of Quesnel Lake and the Quesnel River. Morton has been surveying the region’s aquatic systems – taking water samples, video and photos – in the wake of the Mount Polley tailings spill. She posted the above video and
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Is Mount Polley making people sick? Anecdotal clues, questions mount
Hazeltine Creek following Mount Polley Mine’s tailings dam breach (Photo: Chris Blake) A series of anecdotal reports of illness from suffered by people in close proximity to the Mount Polley Mine tailings dam breach is prompting a local First Nation to push the premier for a study of potential airborne contaminants – and calls for an independent inquiry
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Mount Polley highlights risk of Red Chris, KSM tailings dam failures
Flannigan Slough, just downstream from proposed Tulsequah Chief Mine (Chris Miller) By any measure, the giant tailings dam rupture at Imperial Metal’s Mount Polley Copper Mine is a disaster for downstream communities and wild salmon. The massive dam breach released a raging torrent of slurry mine waste into Hazeltine Creek
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Mount Polley bankruptcy could leave BC public footing cleanup bill
Rod Marining, a resident of the region, surveys the damage after Mount Polley Mine tailings pond breach Republished with permission from 250news.com By Peter Ewart The clean-up costs for the massive tailing pond spill at Imperial Metals’ Polley Mountain mine have been estimated by some to range between $50 and $500
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