(Ottawa) MiningWatch Canada strongly supports the legal challenge filed today by Xatśūll First Nation against the British Columbia government’s approval of an increase in the height of the tailings dam at the Mount Polley Mine.
The Mount Polley mine was the site of Canada’s largest environmental disaster when its tailings dam collapsed on August 4, 2014, sending 25 million cubic metres of contaminated mine waste water and tailings into Polley Lake, Hazeltine Creek, Quesnel Lake, and the Fraser River. The spill caused long-lasting environmental and cultural harm. The mine was allowed to resume operations less than a year after the disaster, and since 2017, has been allowed to dump untreated mine waste water directly into Quesnel Lake.
Xatśūll First Nation has filed a judicial review challenging the Province’s refusal to do an environmental assessment for a proposed expansion of the tailings dam at Mount Polley, which would increase the dam by four metres. The Mount Polley Mining Company, a subsidiary of Imperial Metals, has indicated that it intends to raise the dam by a further 13 metres in the near future. The Mount Polley mine was approved by the B.C. Ministry of Mines in 1992, four years before BC got its first Environmental Assessment Act. Imperial Metals had to prepare an Environmental and Socioeconomic Impact Assessment as part of its application, but the process was led by the company and its studies were not subject to a public review.
“We can only speculate on whether a proper environmental assessment could have helped prevent the Mount Polley disaster,” said Jamie Kneen, National Program Co-Lead with MiningWatch Canada. “However, to refuse to do an assessment and allow the mine to expand without additional scrutiny is just irresponsible,” he added.
MiningWatch has long criticised the impunity enjoyed by the mining industry when it comes to environmental damage, and brought charges against Mount Polley Mining Company under the Fisheries Act in the wake of the spill. Those charges were stayed by the court in 2017 at the request of the Crown Prosecution Service, and it was only last year that Fisheries Act charges were finally laid by the Crown.
“If the Province wants to be taken seriously when it promotes its mining regulations as ‘world-leading,’ it needs to follow its own laws to uphold the rights of Indigenous Nations and protect communities and watersheds,” said Kneen. “We are very grateful to Xatśūll First Nation for taking this action for real accountability.”
Xatśūll First Nation argues that Province’s decision violates its own environmental laws and fails to uphold its commitments to Indigenous rights, including the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA). This legal action seeks to ensure proper oversight and respect for Indigenous governance in decision-making. Kukpi7 (Chief) Rhonda Phillips said that Xatśūll “will continue withholding consent for the Mount Polley Mine expansion” until their serious concerns are adequately addressed.
Kukpi7 Phillips stated, “The Province continues to demonstrate it is unwilling or unable to responsibly regulate mining in our Territory, with its past actions and its recent decision to expedite natural resource projects to stimulate economic growth in response to the current political and economic climate.” She added, “This moment is about more than just one mine. It’s about the legal and moral obligation to uphold Indigenous rights across B.C. and beyond. We need to maintain balance in decision making to ensure short-term decisions do not have long-term negative consequences for generations to come.”
For more information, contact:
- Jamie Kneen, MiningWatch Canada, (613) 761-2273, [email protected]