Ten years after Mount Polley dam breach in British Columbia, 15 charges laid
A total 15 charges have been laid against Imperial Metals Corp. (TSX:III) its subsidiary Mount Polley Mining Corporation, and engineering firm Wood Canada Limited for alleged violations of the federal Fisheries Act, arising from the failure of the tailings storage facility (TSF) at the Mount Polley mine in British Columbia 10 years ago.
Imperial is a Vancouver based exploration, mine development and operating company with holdings that include the Mount Polley mine (100%), the Huckleberry mine (100%), and the Red Chris mine (30%) and a portfolio of 23 greenfield exploration properties in the Canadian province.
On August 4, 2014 a breach at the Mount Polley copper-gold mine sent the equivalent of 2,000 Olympic swimming pools of mining waste into a creek, tearing a swath as much as 45 metres wide down the previously metre-wide waterway.
Over 17 million cubic metres of water and eight million cubic metres of tailings effluent — containing toxic copper and gold mining waste — flowed into lakes and streams that served as salmon spawning ground in the province’s Cariboo region.
Environment and Climate Change Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada have jointly investigated possible contraventions of the Federal Fisheries Act, related to the tailings pond breach, the B.C. Conservation Officer Service said in a statement on Tuesday.
“These agencies have been working together as the Mount Polley Integrated Investigation Task Force (MPIITF),” it said. “A Report to Crown Counsel was previously submitted to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada and the British Columbia Prosecution Service by the MPIITF for assessment of its investigation for prosecution.”
In 2021, seven years after the TSF failure, the results of disciplinary hearings were released by the Engineers and Geoscientists B.C., the body responsible for establishing and upholding standards of professional practice and ethical conduct in the sector.
“The charges are outlined in an indictment filed with the Supreme Court of British Columbia on December 6, 2024 which the Company received today,” Imperial Metals said in statement on Monday.
“As this matter is before the courts, the Company does not intend to make further public statements.”
A first appearance date has been scheduled for December 18 in British Columbia Supreme Court.