British Columbia water disaster

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John Stang

John Stang Feb 6, 2018

Feb 6, 2018

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                <h1>British Columbia water disaster</h1>
                <h2><p>According to CBC News, the wall of a large inland British Columbia mine’s tailings pond has collapsed, sending 10 million cubic meters of water and 4.5 million cubic meters of “metals-laden” sand out into local waterways about 85 miles southeast of Quesnel, which is on the main road</p></h2>
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               <p>By <a href="/author/john-stang-crosscut-com/">John Stang</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Feb 6, 2018</time></p>
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            <p>According to <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/mount-polley-mine-tailings-pond-breach-local-state-of-emergency-declared-1.2728832?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">CBC News</a>, the wall of a large inland British Columbia mine’s tailings pond has collapsed, sending 10 million cubic meters of water and 4.5 million cubic meters of “metals-laden” sand out into local waterways about 85 miles southeast of Quesnel, which is on the main road to the Yukon.<a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/08/06/cariboo-regional-district-declares-state-of-emergency-after-mount-polley-mine-tailings-pond-breach-in-b-c/?__federated=1&ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">Mount Polley is</a> an open-pit copper and gold mine with a four-kilometer-wide tailings pond build with an earthen dam, operated by Imperial Metals. The local Cariboo Regional District declared a state of emergency about 48 hours after the collapse of the wall. Brian Kynoch, president of Imperial Metals, has apologized to the community: “It’s going to take a long time to earn the community’s trust back,” he said.CBC reported that the exact composition of the escaped pond water is unknown; there is currently a drinking water and water use ban on all consumption or recreational use of the Quesnel/Cariboo river systems. — K.H.</p>
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According to CBC News, the wall of a large inland British Columbia mine’s tailings pond has collapsed, sending 10 million cubic meters of water and 4.5 million cubic meters of “metals-laden” sand out into local waterways about 85 miles southeast of Quesnel, which is on the main road to the Yukon.Mount Polley is an open-pit copper and gold mine with a four-kilometer-wide tailings pond build with an earthen dam, operated by Imperial Metals. The local Cariboo Regional District declared a state of emergency about 48 hours after the collapse of the wall. Brian Kynoch, president of Imperial Metals, has apologized to the community: “It’s going to take a long time to earn the community’s trust back,” he said.CBC reported that the exact composition of the escaped pond water is unknown; there is currently a drinking water and water use ban on all consumption or recreational use of the Quesnel/Cariboo river systems. — K.H.

By John Stang

John Stang is a freelance writer who often covers state government and the environment. He can be reached on email at johnstang_8@hotmail.com and on Twitter at @johnstang_8