The Mount Polley tailings pond disaster. What a difference a year makes…

Posted on by Laila

August 12th,2014

http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Mount+Polley+breach+environmental+disaster+Mines+Minister+Bill+Bennett/10109949/story.html

“B.C. Mines Minister Bill Bennett says the Mount Polley tailings dam collapse is not an environmental disaster, equating it to the “thousands” of avalanches that happen annually in B.C. Bennett, pointing to initial positive water readings, asserted his contention will be proven in the next several weeks.”

“Bennett acknowledged the dam collapse may be a mining industry, a geotechnical and a political disaster.

But he said that has to be separated from the environmental effects.

“Get up in a helicopter and go and look at the avalanches that happen in this province — there are probably 10,000 or 15,000 avalanches that happen every single year. Get up in a helicopter and go and look at what happened last spring with the events in the Rockies with water coming down and doing exactly what happened in Hazeltine Creek. The difference is that snow melts, (but) you are left with exactly the same (result) — it looks exactly the same as what happened in Hazeltine Creek,” said Bennett.

“It’s a mess. It’s a total mess, there’s no question about that … What’s going to happen here, is we are going to be left with this opportunity to learn from this huge, profound mistake that’s been made here,” he said.

August 4th, 2015

http://www.timescolonist.com/mining-industry-still-horrified-by-mount-polley-tailings-pond-collapse-bennett-1.2020206

“British Columbia’s mines minister says the mining industry remains horrified a year after a tailings pond collapsed at the Mount Polley mine northeast of Williams Lake.

Bill Bennett said no one thought a crisis on such a scale was possible but that even now he can’t guarantee that another breach of a tailings pond won’t happen because only some of the risk factors can be eliminated.

“We didn’t eliminate enough of the risk and we have to figure out, and we are figuring out, how to eliminate the rest of that risk,” he said of the Aug. 4, 2014 accident.

About 24 millions cubic metres of waste spilled into area waterways, causing an environmental disaster.”

“The provincial government has spent $6 million on the cleanup, and Imperial Metals was granted conditional approval to reopen last month, although it still needs further permits before it can operate fully.

Bennett said water and sediment testing will have to continue for decades.”

Yes… you read that right… decades. And why? Because maybe profit was more important than safety,than heeding the warnings,than doing the right thing?

What a difference a year makes to the comments of those with the power to make change. But where will Bill Bennett,Christy Clark and Mary Polak  be decades from now,when all this testing is still going on?

Will they even remember Mount Polley?

Now watch this. One year later. Mount Polley. Because this matters to all of us.

https://ricochet.media/en/539/a-crime-scene-mount-polley-one-year-after-mining-disaster

Backposts:

https://lailayuile.com/2014/08/06/one-tough-question-for-the-bc-government/

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/laila-yule/mount-polley-water_b_5660882.htm

https://lailayuile.com/2014/08/29/our-posterity-will-wonder-about-our-ignorance-of-things-so-plain-seneca/

https://lailayuile.com/2014/08/17/been-to-hell-alexandra-morton-on-mount-polley-visit/isit/

15 thoughts on “The Mount Polley tailings pond disaster. What a difference a year makes…”

  3. I have flown over the BC mountains, and have seen plenty of rock slides and major earth movements; the difference is they are not highly concentrated tailings extracted from an ore body. Mt. Polly is about as un-natural a disaster as they come; to claim otherwise is foolish or diversionary. I am pro mining because well planned and run projects bring good paying jobs to our economy, however this incident shows there are so many holes in the system it can’t be trusted.
    We can’t afford to become a nation of naysayer when it comes to mining, but this certainly set back the social license on ever other major project to come. Rather sad showing from our leadership

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  4. Haven’t we heard enough from Bullshit Bill? Who (besides him, using taxpayer money) can afford to ‘get up in a helicopter’ to view ‘10,000 or 15,000 avalanches’ each year. I see a dozen or so driving the Coquihala and they certainly bear NO RESEMBLANCE to the devestation wrought by this criminal act of negligence!
    “The results for metal testing on the Hazeltine Creek water sample were not available by Monday”. Why not? You’ve had a whole year to prepare for this! And they ‘did not immediatley have an answer’ as to whether or not they were testing for xanthates’. In other words ‘NO’. If they were, they would have had an answer, immediatley.
    And in the meantime, Red Chris Mine, owned by the same Billionaire goes merrily ahead?
    And why are BC taxpayers on the hook for $6 million of cleanup? Was it something WE did to precipitate this….carnage? Or was it BS Bills lack of due diligence? Just ‘get up in a helicopter’ and f*** off Bill. I’m mad as hell, but guess I’ll have to take this for another 2 years.

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  5. BS Bill is employed by the people. He is there to represent the people. He is there to protect our heritage. How does a man in that position become an apologist for a disaster-causing, polluting mining company? How does our rep serve the mine before the people? How does that happen? Corruption and bribery is one way to turn a man’s head – jus’ sayin’. But maybe BS Bill never intended to serve the people or the province in the first place…? Not EVER! So, why did he run? Why do people like that get elected? Hmmm…..HOW do people like THAT get elected is another good question. If they are gonna cheat when at work, maybe they cheated to get the job?

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  6. Didnt the mine owners contribute to the Liberal election campaign?
    Enough said.
    WHEN are these blatant “conflict of interest” deals going to end?
    Im fed up with politicians and or their parties protecting their financial backers.
    It should be illegal.
    In 50 years when the water in that creek, river and lake system are still unfit to drink no one will remember Bill Bennets’ or Christy Clark’s name. And that is truly a shame.

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  8. Old Spittleface Bill is as maudlin as it gets. The heights of BC Liberal absurdity usually involve Billy Boy in some way. Who will ever forget him standing with hands on hips in front of the collapsed tailings damn, astride the devastated creek-bed smeared for miles with toxic mine waste, and proclaiming, “Disaster? What disaster? There’s nothing wrong here! Everything’s just fine!”

    I mean, does it get more absurd than that?

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  9. Remember when you vote federally in Canada that the Grade 12’er Crusty is just the mouthpiece for Stephen Harper so in order to stop the BC Liars we must first,,,,,STOP HARPER on October 19…..VOTE for the NDP candidate in your riding.

    GO MULCAIR…STOP HARPER or Harper will finish off Canada forever.

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