The On-going Saga of the Mount Polley Disaster: Mining company charged 10 years after spilling toxic waste into BC waters.
CBC, Dec 10, 2024
The collapse of Mount Polley tailings dam considered one of the worst environmental disasters in Canadian history.
More than a decade after spilling millions of litres of toxic wastewater into rivers in the BC Interior, Imperial Metals Corp. has been charged with 15 violations of the federal Fisheries Act.
The charges were announced Tuesday by the BC Conservation Officer Service, which said it worked with the Department of Fisheries and Environment and Climate Change Canada to build the case for taking the company to court.
The service said all three agencies had been working together as the Mount Polley Integration Investigation Task Force and that fifteen charges had been approved against Imperial Metals Corporation, its subsidiary, Mount Polley Mining Corporation, and the engineering firm Wood Canada Limited, all of whom are facing the same charges.
The tailings pond spill, which happened on Aug. 4, 2014, is considered one of the largest environmental disasters in provincial history and one of the worst mining disasters in Canada.
It happened following the failure of the Mount Polley tailings dam, which sent hundreds of tonnes of toxic materials into local waterways near Likely, BC, about 170 kilometres south of Prince George.
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