In a letter written by its legal counsel to the federal cabinet regarding the revised Propserity mine application, the Tsilhqot’in National Government makes a number of requests.
The TNG asks for a copy of Taseko’s revised application, a “timely opportunity” to review and comment on the application, and clarification of, and consultation about, the proposed federal process for considering the revised application, among other things.
The letter calls on the federal government stand by its original decision and reject the revised application “rather than unnecessarily subject the Tsilhqot’in people, the public and government regulators to another round of divisive and draining regulatory proceedings.”
Taseko’s revised proposal, according to Brian Battison, vice-president of corporate affairs, differs from the rejected plan in two fundamental ways. The mine’s tailings pond will be located two kilometres away from Fish Lake rather than adjacent to it and the waste rock generated by mining activity will be hauled to a different location rather than be placed on the dry lake bed, thereby maintaining Fish Lake.
However, the letter raises the question of how the revised proposal can be environmentally sound when the former proposal of using Fish Lake as a waste storage area was deemed by Taseko at the time as the “lowest environmental risk” and being the “most environmentally responsible” of the three available options.
Battison insists that the new proposal is more environmentally sound than the last one given that it eliminates the use of Fish Lake.
The letter further states that even if Fish Lake is preserved the proposal would not address “the host of significant environmental impacts” identified in the review panel’s environmental assessment such as the impact on Aboriginal use of lands and resources for traditional purposes, on culture heritage, on aboriginal rights and title and on threatened grizzly bear populations as well as fisheries issues. When contacted, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency confirmed that it had received a new project description for the proposed mine.
As for process, the agency would only say there was no timeline at this point and that the agency and other federal departments will review the project description to determine the next steps.