A long-term water management plan proposed for Mount Polley is now available for public comment.
“Mount Polley Mining Corporation is applying to discharge treated mine effluent to both Quesnel Lake at a depth of 40 to 50 metres, as well as to Bootjack Lake via groundwater,” the ministries of environment, energy and mines, and Aboriginal relations and reconciliation said in a press release Tuesday.
The permit application will go through a 30-day public-consultation period, as well as a comprehensive technical review by the Cariboo Mine Development Review Committee.
Additionally, public consultation sessions on the long-term water management plan are scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 26, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., at the Royal Canadian Legion, Quesnel; Thursday, Oct. 27, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., open house and town hall, Royal Canadian Legion, Williams Lake; Friday, Oct. 28, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., open house, Horsefly Community Hall; Saturday, Oct. 29, 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., open house, Big Lake Community Hall and Sunday, Oct. 30, 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., open house and town hall, Likely Community Hall.
Public feedback will help inform the company’s final water management plan, expected to be in place by fall 2017.
MPMC had previously submitted its draft technical assessment report for the long-term water management plan which underwent an internal government-to-government review involving the Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Energy and Mines, Williams Lake Indian Band and Soda Creek Indian Band.
The results of that review have helped inform MPMC’s formal permit amendment application and supporting technical assessment report.
Final comments to the ministry on the report are due on Thursday, Nov. 24, 2016.
Please submit comments with the subject line “Comments on technical assessment report” to: MtPolleyEnvironmental.Enquiries@gov.bc.ca.
All information on the incident can be viewed on the ministry’s dedicated webpage: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/mount-polley/.