The reason it isn't affecting the water is that the water is not acidic and therefore won't carry the metals as readily. The metals are trapped in the silt and on the bottom of the lake, along the creek and the majority of the volumes quoted are still in the tailings pond area. The water escaped and washed a large quantity of silt out but nowhere near all. The contaminants will settle to the bottom, be covered in natural silt and a small amount will continuously flush through. It is similar to amalgam fillings in your teeth, they have a large amount of mercury in them but the conditions in your mouth only pull a very small quantity out into your system. Small enough that it is tough to measure and the debate rages on about whether or not there are adverse health effects. This spill will be the same. There will likely be no way to attribute future health issues for people or the ecosystem to it. Mother Nature is fickle enough that the variability makes quantifying almost anything difficult.
That's a very good summary of how I understand it also.
A few things are in our favor on this disaster.
The chemistry of the rocks that creates the acidity that leaches the copper and heavy metals that harm the environment. That's what was deadly here in the Comox Valley's Tsolum River -it's called
Acid Rock Drainage
Second thing was that the spill went into a lake with low energy levels. It can settle to the bottom and it's a very deep lake so that helps keep the energy low. The less energy in the water the harder it is for solids to stay in suspension. Time of year is also in our favor, It's a dry time and it gives the crews a chance to clean up and prepare for the fall/winter rains.
Make no mistake there should be hell to pay for this eff up.
Our captains of industry have failed us.
Our elected leaders used ideology to govern the industry.
Paper rules are not a substitute for inspection.
Government has not done it's due diligence.
RCMP should be investigating all parties in this mess.
Warning signs were there and they ignored them.
How many more time bombs are ticking as we sit here.
