Nearly a year after an environmental disaster, B.C. government has given the operator of the Mount Polley mine the go-ahead to temporarily restart.
The mine, which is owned by Imperial Metals, will not be allowed to store waste water in the failed tailings pond, but will be able to put tailings in a mined-out pit within the mine site. It’s a temporary solution. The pit is expected to be full by early fall, at which point the mine operators will have to apply for another permit to store waste water off site.
Government inspectors will be on site to monitor the temporary waste water plan, said Bill Bennett, the Minister of Energy and Mines, at a press conference July 9. Allowing the mine to restart will put 220 workers back to work, Bennett said.
On August 4, 2014, an earthen dam holding waste water from the copper-gold mine gave way, releasing 10 million cubic metres of water and 4.5 million cubic metres of slurry into Polley Lake and Hazeltine Creek.
A panel of engineers who reviewed the accident concluded the dam failure was caused by flaws in the design: it was built on a weak glacial rock foundation and the sides of the dam were too steep to hold back the volume of water being stored.
The mine operators must come up with a long-term plan to store waste water by June 2016. Bennett said it was more important to reopen the mine and put employees back to work than wait for the company to finalize its plan. He said the government is satisfied the temporary plan is environmentally safe.
Imperial Metals recorded a $37 million net loss in 2014, thanks largely to the cost of cleaning up the disaster and stalled production. The company received $14 million in insurance.
All mines with tailings ponds have been required to hire independent engineers to complete their annual inspections early. The Ministry of Energy and Mines is now reviewing those inspections and results will be made public in August, said Dave Morrell, assistant deputy minister.
@jenstden
