Mine tailing breach in BC

Lots of problems in the Quesnel Lake, BC area. Mine tailing pond dams can breach.

http://www.theprovince.com/news/bc/Water...8935/story.html

There used to be a mine on the Similkameen in BC that at least once, and probably more, spilled a copper slurry into the river that made it to the US. I think there are also issues upstream of Grand Coulee where mine waste keeps accumulating in the reservoir.

Don't worry...that only happens to every single tailings dam eventually.

Except Bristol Bay. I'm sure it would be just great there.

Fish on...

Todd

Super big disaster there...all that water will go right into the Quesnel river, then flow into the upper Fraser. That water likely has Cyanide and Sulfuric acid in it...

Todd

It's just like the disclaimer on all the stock annual reports. Something like "Past performance is no guarantee of future results." Just because it never has been successful doesn't mean it won't be in Bristol.

Or, in salmon management in GH and WB.

Yep...and when they do it at Bristol Bay and it eventually leaks or breaches enough to kill all the trout and salmon there then they'll say the same thing when they want to do it in the next watershed.

"Yeah, but it won't happen this time!"

Fish on...

Todd

Guess we left at the right time, we just spent a week up on horsefly lake, quesnel flows in to horsefly, those lakes are so clear, well at least they were, beautiful place, hate to see it,

A couple more links.....

http://globalnews.ca/video/1491048/aeria...-pond-breach-2/

http://www.theprogress.com/news/270043531.html

they are saying on the Salmon are Sacred page that it was 10 billion litres of chemicals, and 2 of them are Arsenic, and Mercury...

thats NOT good...

JAY EFF SEE!

GDITMMM!

Fuggin Canadians wanna do the same to Bristol Bay

Makes my insides hurt to see this type of human assault on the planet

JAY EFF SEE!

From the looks of it the pond was roughly a square mile in size. Relatively flat there, between the pond and the lake, so hopefully not too much water made its way to the lake, possibly settling in the flats. Sad situation though regardless of how much mades its way there.

Another link about the spill and other proposed mines.....


http://www.adn.com/article/20140808/mine-waste-spill-canada-puts-southeast-alaska-fishermen-edge

2010 advertisement from Pebble Mine telling how they'll do it in Alaska exactly the same way they did it on the Fraser, where copper mining and salmon can coexist just fine.



Pebble Mine has removed the adverstisement from their website...I wonder why they would have done such a thing?

Here's where Pebble Partnership had the 2010 ad running on their website...

http://corporate.pebblepartnership.com/n...iver-record-run

Click on the link to "Watch the Fraser River TV Ad"...and here's what you get:



Oops.

Fish on...

Todd

What a load of crap. All those employees ought to be sent out to the site and forced to clean it up themselves 24/7 until it's cleaner than before and then asked how they feel about Bristol. Their little tribe of employees would have nightmares for years.

All I can say is.....sickening...
http://www.theprogress.com/news/270068931.html

I'd like to see him drop in a glass and take a chug to show that it's relatively benign.

Question, is there a chance with the lake being 62 miles long, over 1666 feet deep, that this stuff could not be such a risk to the rest of the rivers? don't get me wrong I'm in no way condoning this, but do to the size & depth is there a chance, I get up that way about twice a year and it makes me sick to think the stupidity of a few ruined it for all,

The solution to pollution should not be dilution. But, in this case, when one considers the size of the lake and the rest of the Fraser.

At the same time, there concern about in-lake impacts to the rearing sockeye. Probably worst at the inlet. DFO (for what it's worth) is looking into it.

On the other hand, messing up the system badly would allow DFO to support more extensive net pen operations as mitigation.

http://canadians.org/blog/update-mount-p...overing-instead

Update on the Mount Polley Mine Disaster - Imperial Metals and Government Focus on Covering Up Instead of Cleaning Up

August 30, 2014 - 6:26pm
On August 4th, the massive tailings dam at the Imperial Metals Mount Polley gold and copper mine burst. The dam breach unleashed 14.5 million cubic meters of toxic heavy metals and chemical laden tailings water and sludge into Polley Lake, down Hazeltine Creek, into Quesnel Lake and onto the Quesnel River which directly connects to the Fraser River Watershed. The Quesnel Lake watershed is a major source of drinking water and home to one quarter of the province’s sockeye salmon.This is the largest mining disaster to occur in Canada and it's still unfolding.

.....

Click the link above for the entire story.

Fish on...

Todd

I appreciate the article, but it would be good to get one that was not so obviously biased. It is a tragedy, but I would like the unemotional plain truth about what it looks like now, and actual data on the effects to the animals. Propaganda from either side of the issue is akin to lying.

Here is the most unbiased article I found so far, just the plain facts, but it is a bit old. http://www.wltribune.com/news/270679801.html

Another story.

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/data-ce...2302/story.html

I added that article to the mix because it was biased...just as the press releases from the Canadian government and from the mining company are when they keep telling us that there's "no problem"...the fact that it is biased doesn't mean it's wrong.

I'm biased in favor of the river and the fish, too, especially when compared to the mining company and their enablers in the government.

One side saying there is a problem (when there clearly is) and the other saying there's no problem (when there clearly is) does not a "debate" make...

Fish on...

Todd

i just read an article about it a couple days ago, and now they are saying it was 70 percent larger than they orignially estimated... thats not good... but, just like with the Horizon spill, its to be expected these days...



http://commonsensecanadian.ca/mount-polley-spill-may-far-bigger-initially-revealed/

The Vancouver Sun article detailed the breach as being 70%.

I'm not doubting that it is a horrible situation for the flora and fauna. I would just like to read an article with data in it, rather than presumptions.

70% of what? The reservoir drained completely. It's no longer there.

Given the size of the tailings pond, it's amazing nobody was hurt, or worse.....