By Dave Branco

Ten years Mount Polley Spill

Ten years later, experts urge industry shift away from tailings ponds following Mount Polley Spill

Jul 3, 2024 | 1:51 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – This summer marks ten years since millions of cubic meters of contaminated material spilled into a drinking water network and spawning grounds. The Mount Polley mine disaster occurred on August 4th, 2014, near Likely in the Cariboo region. Scientists continue to monitor the impact of the breach.

The breach in the tailings pond at Mount Polley spilled about 17 million cubic meters of water and 8 million cubic meters of tailings materials into Polley Lake, Hazeltine Creek, and Quesnel Lake.

“ The heavy material went to the bottom of Quesnel Lake, and some of the finer material stayed within the water column of the lake, moved up the river, and so up the lake and down into the local river.”

Dr. Philip Owens

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Professor UNBC environmental science

For the past ten years, UNBC has taken the research lead and continues to find contaminants in the watershed.

“ We see that the concentrations of metals, but specifically copper, are elevated well above background, And that has slowly been decreasing in terms of the concentration of that material [. . .], but we’re down, at or close to the probable effects level, which, the contaminants affect, are expected to affect organisms. So it’s somewhat good news, but it’s still above background. “

Dr. Ellen Petticrew

Professor UNBC environmental science

According to a tailing pond expert, the industry must move away from tailings ponds and find new solutions and innovations.

“ There has been progress that has been made in terms of how tailings dams are constructed or managed, monitored, all of these, from my perspective, are bandaid solution, because at the end of the day, as long as you’re depositing tailings in ponds and those ponds continue to get larger, there will always be a risk of tailings ponds failures.”

Akshay Dubey

CEO, CVW CleanTech Inc.

As the world continues to require minerals, Dubey says it’s vital that we remove minerals most responsibly.

Research continues on the spill’s environmental effects, which could take years to complete. Three engineers have been disciplined for their roles.

Email: Dave.Branco@pattisonmedia.com

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