Approximately 50 people or more attended the Mount Polley Mines open house presentation, and we all seemed to go home much the wiser for our time.
As we all know, this is an unprecedented event in BC mining history; all the worst case scenarios that anyone could imagine couldn’t have anticipated this kind of tailing pond breach. The clean up and reparation of the Hazeltine Creek and the lower Edney Creek are virtually done, and the reforestation plan is in place, and the tailings storage facility construction is proceeding at a rapid pace; in fact my impression is that all the land reclamation is well in hand considering the massive scope of the job, and the trees and logs in Quesnel Lake seem to be grouped up and under control.
The turbidity in the Quesnel Lake and Likely water is the largest issue the Ministry of the Environment, and Imperial Mines have to deal with.
Early life toxicity test were carried out using water at the monitoring station near the Quesnel River Research Center to hatch rainbow trout eggs, and it was determined the water had absolutely no ill effects on the alevin, and as well, with one minor exception, all of the levels of arsenic, copper, mercury, etc. taken so far have been below the safe levels for marine life, and the level of turbidity is not unusual for many rivers the world over.
There was a couple who lived two miles from the mouth of Hazeltine Creek who reported that they were using five water filters compared to the one they normally used over a two week period, so the turbidity may be more of an esthetic human problem than a real hazard.
The single ongoing unknown factor is the vast amount of tailings extending from the mouth of Hazeltine Creek out into Quesnel Lake. The tailings depth starts somewhere around 2 or 3 meters and extends in all directions. It may take some time for this sediment to pack down so it doesn’t move around when the wind blows, or the water turns, and continue to cause turbidity in the Likely drinking water, and the same for the Quesnel Lake residents.
My real concern was if our fish stocks would be affected, and I came away feeling reassured that there doesn’t seem to be any real threat, which I find quite remarkable.
All of the residents of Horsefly including the Horsefly River Roundtable members present were very appreciative to Mount Polley, MOE representatives and Joan Sorely for taking the time and trouble to come to our community and keep us posted on their progress to date.