http://www.fnfisheriescouncil.ca/downloads/august-2014-communique-final.pdf
First Nations Fisheries Council Communiqué
AUGUST 2014 ISSUE
Special Edition: MOUNT POLLEY TAILINGS POND BREACH
This is a special edition of the FNFC Communiqué to provide an update on the tailings pond breach at the Mount Polley open pit gold and copper mine near Likely, BC.
As First Nations in BC are aware, the dam of the tailings pond at the Mount Polley mine (owned and operated by Imperial Metals) was breached on August 4, 2014. At 1:10am, approximately 10 million cubic meters of water and 4.5 million cubic meters of fine sand were released into Polley Lake, and travelled down Hazeltine Creek and into Quesnel Lake. Hazeltine Creek was originally 1.2 meters wide, but since the breach, its width has increased to up to 150 meters.
The provincial government has stated that the cause of the breach is unknown, but some media reports have indicated that the company was warned by the engineering firm that designed the tailings pond that the volume of water being contained was becoming too large. While the flow of tailings has decreased dramatically since the original breach, it has not completely stopped. Imperial Metals is also constructing a dike just inside of the tailings pond breach in order to contain the tailings material within the pond.
Sediment and debris have created an unstable ‘plug’ at the outlet of Polley Lake. With the outlet of Polley Lake clogged by debris, water levels in Polley lake have been rising, which could in turn force the blockage to give way, releasing more of the sediment and debris into Hazeltine Creek and Quesnel Lake. In order to reduce the pressure at the outlet of Polley Lake, water is being pumped from the lake both down Hazeltine Creek into Quesnel Lake, and back into two open pits on the mine.
The Mount Polley mine is located within the northern part of the Secwepemc te Quelmucw traditional territory and is within the traditional territories of T’exelc Williams Lake Band and the Xat’sull Soda Creek First Nation. The Cariboo Regional District, the Ministry of Environment (MOE) and other provincial agencies, Health Canada and other federal agencies, the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA), Northern Shuswap Tribal Council (NSTC), Upper Fraser Fisheries Conservation Alliance (UFFCA), University of Northern BC (UNBC), Watershed Watch Salmon Society, and Quesnel River Research Centre have all been involved in assessment, sampling, monitoring, and other follow-*‐up work since the spill.
Minister of Energy and Mines Bill Bennett announced on August 18 that two separate reviews will be conducted. The first review by three independent experts will investigate the breach at the Mount Polley mine. The second will require all mines in BC that have tailings dams to have independent experts conduct reviews of their facilities.
Salmon Impacts
The timing of the Mount Polley spill is especially disastrous, as it coincides with a record breaking sockeye return to the upper Fraser watershed. First Nations in the upper Fraser have been conserving their weakened salmon stocks for decades, and have voluntarily abstained from food fishing during most years in recent history to allow all returning fish to spawn. First Nations also have major concerns about longer-*‐term impacts of the sediment that has settled in spawning areas, which may result in lower productivity due to lower egg and aelvin survival, and bioaccumulation in the ecosystem.
Thomas Alexis, FNFC delegate for the Upper Fraser region, has major concerns about the destruction of Hazeltine Creek, which is home to spawning interior Fraser coho. “The initial spill wiped out the spawning and rearing grounds of the Interior Fraser Coho destined for that system”, he said. “Interior Fraser Coho are COSEWIC listed, and part of their critical habitat has now been destroyed. Also the sediment sample results released by the province indicate that it’s harmful to aquatic life, which means it affects the food chain for aquatic species and could impact salmon populations for many years to come.”
MOE and the FNHA have been conducting tests on water quality, sediment and fish tissues, and have determined that in the short-*‐term, areas outside of the main impact zone are producing safe drinking water and fish that are safe for human consumption. However, the sediment that has settled in this important fish habitat contains toxins and heavy metals, and there are major concerns among First Nations about the long-*‐term effects of the spill on salmon stocks.
Hugh Braker, FNFC Vice President and delegate for the West Coast Vancouver Island region said: “We call upon the government to provide more thorough independent testing of water and sediment. The government’s position keeps changing, there are mixed messages about what’s happening. Just a week ago a government Minister said it was not a health emergency, and now the Minister of the Environment is saying that it ‘may be’ a disaster. We need to know, given the importance of salmon.”
Metals and Fish Uptake – FAQ with the FNHA
On August 18, the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) released a ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ document on their website regarding the safety of consuming salmon harvested in the Fraser River following the Mount Polley spill. They are testing salmon tissue samples and surface water samples from the Fraser River for parameters indicating potential harm to human health. Recent samples are being tested against baseline samples from 2013.
Toxins and heavy metals were released into waterways in the Mount Polley spill. Metal can accumulate in fish when fish eat other organisms that contain metals. This long time accumulation of metals is called bioaccumulation, and can often take several months to years depending on the metal and the fish species. Salmon spend the majority of their life in the marine environment *and don’t feed during their migration up the river; according to the FNHA, it is unlikely that the migratory time period will be enough for metals to accumulate in salmon. Previous studies have shown very low levels of metals in salmon tissue, and metals found in adult migrating salmon are said to be an indication of exposure in the marine environment.
The FAQ from the FNHA is available here: http://www.fnha.ca/about/news
for more information on the Mount Polley spill:
Cariboo Regional District: http://www.cariboord.bc.ca/news/whats-new-3
First Nations Health Authority: http://www.fnha.ca/about/news-and-events/news/mount-polley-mine-communiques-and-press-releases
BC Ministry of Environment: http://www.newsroom.gov.bc.ca/2014/08/mt-polley-mine-incident.html
The media has also been a good source of information:
Mount Polley news articles from Huffington Post Canada: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/news/mount-polley/
Mount Polley articles from the Globe and Mail: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/search/?q="mount+polley"
Mount Polley articles from the Vancouver Sun: http://www.vancouversun.com/search/search.html?q="mount+polley"
Mount Polley articles from CBC: http://www.cbc.ca/gsa/?q="mount+polley"
First Nations Fisheries Council Communiqué
AUGUST 2014 ISSUE
Special Edition: MOUNT POLLEY TAILINGS POND BREACH
This is a special edition of the FNFC Communiqué to provide an update on the tailings pond breach at the Mount Polley open pit gold and copper mine near Likely, BC.
As First Nations in BC are aware, the dam of the tailings pond at the Mount Polley mine (owned and operated by Imperial Metals) was breached on August 4, 2014. At 1:10am, approximately 10 million cubic meters of water and 4.5 million cubic meters of fine sand were released into Polley Lake, and travelled down Hazeltine Creek and into Quesnel Lake. Hazeltine Creek was originally 1.2 meters wide, but since the breach, its width has increased to up to 150 meters.
The provincial government has stated that the cause of the breach is unknown, but some media reports have indicated that the company was warned by the engineering firm that designed the tailings pond that the volume of water being contained was becoming too large. While the flow of tailings has decreased dramatically since the original breach, it has not completely stopped. Imperial Metals is also constructing a dike just inside of the tailings pond breach in order to contain the tailings material within the pond.
Sediment and debris have created an unstable ‘plug’ at the outlet of Polley Lake. With the outlet of Polley Lake clogged by debris, water levels in Polley lake have been rising, which could in turn force the blockage to give way, releasing more of the sediment and debris into Hazeltine Creek and Quesnel Lake. In order to reduce the pressure at the outlet of Polley Lake, water is being pumped from the lake both down Hazeltine Creek into Quesnel Lake, and back into two open pits on the mine.
The Mount Polley mine is located within the northern part of the Secwepemc te Quelmucw traditional territory and is within the traditional territories of T’exelc Williams Lake Band and the Xat’sull Soda Creek First Nation. The Cariboo Regional District, the Ministry of Environment (MOE) and other provincial agencies, Health Canada and other federal agencies, the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA), Northern Shuswap Tribal Council (NSTC), Upper Fraser Fisheries Conservation Alliance (UFFCA), University of Northern BC (UNBC), Watershed Watch Salmon Society, and Quesnel River Research Centre have all been involved in assessment, sampling, monitoring, and other follow-*‐up work since the spill.
Minister of Energy and Mines Bill Bennett announced on August 18 that two separate reviews will be conducted. The first review by three independent experts will investigate the breach at the Mount Polley mine. The second will require all mines in BC that have tailings dams to have independent experts conduct reviews of their facilities.
Salmon Impacts
The timing of the Mount Polley spill is especially disastrous, as it coincides with a record breaking sockeye return to the upper Fraser watershed. First Nations in the upper Fraser have been conserving their weakened salmon stocks for decades, and have voluntarily abstained from food fishing during most years in recent history to allow all returning fish to spawn. First Nations also have major concerns about longer-*‐term impacts of the sediment that has settled in spawning areas, which may result in lower productivity due to lower egg and aelvin survival, and bioaccumulation in the ecosystem.
Thomas Alexis, FNFC delegate for the Upper Fraser region, has major concerns about the destruction of Hazeltine Creek, which is home to spawning interior Fraser coho. “The initial spill wiped out the spawning and rearing grounds of the Interior Fraser Coho destined for that system”, he said. “Interior Fraser Coho are COSEWIC listed, and part of their critical habitat has now been destroyed. Also the sediment sample results released by the province indicate that it’s harmful to aquatic life, which means it affects the food chain for aquatic species and could impact salmon populations for many years to come.”
MOE and the FNHA have been conducting tests on water quality, sediment and fish tissues, and have determined that in the short-*‐term, areas outside of the main impact zone are producing safe drinking water and fish that are safe for human consumption. However, the sediment that has settled in this important fish habitat contains toxins and heavy metals, and there are major concerns among First Nations about the long-*‐term effects of the spill on salmon stocks.
Hugh Braker, FNFC Vice President and delegate for the West Coast Vancouver Island region said: “We call upon the government to provide more thorough independent testing of water and sediment. The government’s position keeps changing, there are mixed messages about what’s happening. Just a week ago a government Minister said it was not a health emergency, and now the Minister of the Environment is saying that it ‘may be’ a disaster. We need to know, given the importance of salmon.”
Metals and Fish Uptake – FAQ with the FNHA
On August 18, the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) released a ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ document on their website regarding the safety of consuming salmon harvested in the Fraser River following the Mount Polley spill. They are testing salmon tissue samples and surface water samples from the Fraser River for parameters indicating potential harm to human health. Recent samples are being tested against baseline samples from 2013.
Toxins and heavy metals were released into waterways in the Mount Polley spill. Metal can accumulate in fish when fish eat other organisms that contain metals. This long time accumulation of metals is called bioaccumulation, and can often take several months to years depending on the metal and the fish species. Salmon spend the majority of their life in the marine environment *and don’t feed during their migration up the river; according to the FNHA, it is unlikely that the migratory time period will be enough for metals to accumulate in salmon. Previous studies have shown very low levels of metals in salmon tissue, and metals found in adult migrating salmon are said to be an indication of exposure in the marine environment.
The FAQ from the FNHA is available here: http://www.fnha.ca/about/news
for more information on the Mount Polley spill:
Cariboo Regional District: http://www.cariboord.bc.ca/news/whats-new-3
First Nations Health Authority: http://www.fnha.ca/about/news-and-events/news/mount-polley-mine-communiques-and-press-releases
BC Ministry of Environment: http://www.newsroom.gov.bc.ca/2014/08/mt-polley-mine-incident.html
The media has also been a good source of information:
Mount Polley news articles from Huffington Post Canada: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/news/mount-polley/
Mount Polley articles from the Globe and Mail: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/search/?q="mount+polley"
Mount Polley articles from the Vancouver Sun: http://www.vancouversun.com/search/search.html?q="mount+polley"
Mount Polley articles from CBC: http://www.cbc.ca/gsa/?q="mount+polley"
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