Likely residents say they're still waiting for Mount Polley mine cleanup

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      Over a month after a major tailings pond breach at the Mount Polley mine, Likely residents and some local First Nations members say they don’t trust their drinking water.

      They’re also calling on both Imperial Metals and the provincial government for a "meaningful cleanup" of the area.

      “That area of the disaster is of very spiritual and cultural and historical significance to our people,” Kanahus Manuel, a member of the Secwepemc Nation, said at a news conference today (September 8).

      “This area we still continue to use, as Secwepemc people, for our berries and our hunting, for gathering medicines, for fasting…After the impact of the spill, indigenous people all across the Fraser, all across all these waterways, were emotionally torn by this spill, because as indigenous people we depend on the salmon as [part] of our main sustenance, and we have for thousands and thousands of years.”

      Manuel described the nine-kilometre Hazeltine Creek as filled with gorges, canyons, and “toxic sludge”.

      “The whole basin of what used to be that creek is full of toxic sludge,” she said. “It’s very unstable. I got sucked into that sludge past my knees.”

      Likely resident Lawna Bourassa-Kuester said locals still don’t feel safe drinking the water.

      “The confusion of being told the water is safe, but do not drink it when it’s cloudy, is very upsetting,” she said.

      The government lifted its ban on drinking water for most of the region on August 12, but has advised residents not to drink tap water if it is cloudy, or if there is increased turbidity, sediment, or a change in taste or odour.

      “We, like most of the residents, live in Likely for its beauty, peacefulness,” added Bourassa-Kuester. “This is heartbreaking to see. The place we love has become Imperial Metals’ wasteland. And government is devaluing the importance of all of this for B.C.”

      Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, the president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, suggested the province is “overwhelmed” by the spill.

      “I don’t think there’s any question that it’s going to be years and years and years before we understand the full impact of this mining disaster with respect to that toxic soup of heavy metals and toxic chemicals on the environment, on the fish,” he said.

      The B.C. government has appointed a panel of experts to conduct an independent engineering investigation into the August 4 tailings spill.

      Comments

      5 Comments

      dk

      Sep 8, 2014 at 4:36pm

      Never mind an independent engineering panel, just get started with the clean up. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that the tailing pond didn't hold and it's a mess.

      SPY vs SPY

      Sep 8, 2014 at 4:38pm

      Yah - The BC Government has appointed a panel of experts to conduct an investigation into the August 4 tailings spill.

      Whats to Investigate - The Dam Failed!! Imperial Metals alone is 100% responsible!!

      However the BC Government has NOT ordered an RCMP Raid on Imperial Metals offices to search for and seize any and all Documents regarding the Failure of the Tailings Dam.

      The BC Government has NOT appointed a Prosecutor to investigate the Civil or possibly Criminal Liability of Imperial Metals Officers and Managers for the Failure of the Tailings Dam.

      The BC Government has NOT ordered Imperial Metals to commence a clean up of the Tailings spill.

      The BC Government has NOT frozen the Trading of Imperial Metal shares on the Stock Market.

      The BC Government has not Frozen the Bank Accounts of Imperial Metals - in order to insure that All Assets owned by Imperial Metals are utilized in the removal of all Tailings Material back to the Tailings Pond.

      By the way - It will take about $100,000,000.00 to collect all the Tailings Waste Rock and Sludge and return it to the Tailings Pond.

      All the BC Liberal Government (Not Really Liberal in any manner what-so-ever ) is probably wasting millions of BC Tax Dollars on Lawyers to find a Legal Loophole that allows Imperial Metals - To NOT Pay for a 100% Clean Up.

      Leaders lead.....ethical and morally bankrupt people DON'T

      Sep 9, 2014 at 5:12am

      Politicians DON'T have leadrship skills- all they have are polished sycophancy skills; which are destructive- the problem is...it takes time before the lack shows up.

      Recall

      Sep 9, 2014 at 9:26am

      Our provincial government has proven themselves incapable of handling any of the affairs that impact British Columbians. They are incompetent and should be recalled NOW! Government means governing and all they have been doing is lining their own pockets and the wallets of their 'friends'. Spy vs Spy is right on it! The dam breach sent toxic waste into our waterways and continues to flow into our rivers. I never thought I'd see the day where ordinary citizens would have to fight our Canadian governments, locally and federally. Disgusting. My heart bleeds for those affected by the Mt. Polley breach, that now includes the rest of us as the sludge has not been contained, doesn't appear any attempt has been made to do so. Looks like we're going to have to take CC and her merry band of useless boobs to court. RECALL!