The Williams Lake Indian Band is not surprised by last week’s release of the Chief Inspector of Mines Investigation Report on Mount Polley.
Chief Ann Louie says she is not taken aback that no charges at this time have been recommended against the mine for the August 4th, 2014 breach.
“I know that the Conservation Officer Service is doing an investigation and that is doing more intense work on that and will outweigh the outcome of that one which from my understanding will not be released until the fall of next year.”
Louie says the Band, as well as Xat’sull First Nation, have been working very hard with the government and the mine on the rehabilitation work which remains ongoing.
She says they want to make sure they have the opportunity to properly engage their technical team before they provide any further comment to the December 17th report.
Both the Williams Lake Indian Band and Xat’sull First have been actively involved in all work conducted on the Mount Polley site for the past 17 months, including environmental monitoring, rehabilitation, and ongoing research.