Public invited to comment on Mount Polley environmental impact report

British Columbians have 30-days to comment on Mount Polley Mining Corporation’s Post Event Environmental Impact Assessment Report (PEEIAR).

As a requirement of the pollution abatement order, Mount Polley Mining Corporation must submit a report to the Ministry of Environment outlining the environmental impact caused by the breach of the tailings storage facility and assesses physical, chemical and biological information collected from the spill

This is the second version of the PEEIAR being released for public comment.

Final comments to the ministry on this report are due on July 21, 2016 and can be submitted to [email protected] with the subject line “Comments on the second version of the PEEIAR”.

“I encourage British Columbians to offer their feedback on this important report so we can continue and improve upon the great remediation work that’s been done to date,” says Minister of Environment, Mary Polak. “Full environmental remediation will take years of dedicated work and the Province will continue to work alongside First Nations, the company and local communities to ensure a strong and robust long-term plan for restoration and remediation is put in place.”

• Version one of the PEEIAR released in June 2015 included findings relating to overall environmental impact – the following are also included in this updated report:
• Approximately 132 hectares (236 acres) of land were impacted by the spill.
• Approximately 181 hectares (447 acres) of Quesnel Lake bottom are covered by sediment with a depth of up to 10 metres.
• Turbidity levels in Quesnel Lake are near or at normal levels and water quality has improved over time.
•  Turbidity levels in Polley Lake have returned to pre-event levels.

Additional information regarding sediments lost to Polley Lake, Hazeltine Creek and Quesnel Lake still need to be collected by the company. More detailed information regarding sediment quality in Polley and Quesnel lakes also needs to be collected to determine the impact of the deposited materials. This work will be carried out in 2016.