Water ban linked to BC mine tailings spill partially lifted

LIKELY (NEWS1130) – Health experts in the province have partially lifted a water ban that followed a spill from a mine tailings pond.

A tailings dam at the Mount Polley gold and copper mine, about 600 kilometres northeast of Vancouver, failed on Monday, releasing 10 million cubic metres of water and 4.5 million cubic metres of silt.

Dr. Trevor Corneil of Interior Health says the ban is rescinded for parts of the Quesnel River north of Quesnel Lake where it narrows and is shallow. This includes most of the small community of Likely. Public showers, along with containers for potable and grey water, have now arrived in Likely and will be functional Saturday.

In those areas, Corneil says people can drink and bathe in water as they normally would, although because of debris, officials are still recommending people not use the river for recreational use.

Corneil says a few hundred people still are under a water use-ban, “but certainly a do-not-use-order on 300 people is much better than on three or four thousand.”

The water ban remains in place for communities that get their water from Polley Lake, Hazeltine Creek, Cariboo Creek and all parts of Quesnel Lake, as well as the Quesnel River south of 6236 Cedar Creek Road. This includes the communities of Winkley Creek, Abbott Creek, Mitchell Bay and the East Arm of Quesnel Lake.

Interior Health will continue to evaluate water samples as they arrive and will update the communities as more information becomes available.

He says a full ban could be put in place again at a moment’s notice because of the state of Polley Lake.

“Polley Lake is still unstable and may breach, pouring additional tailings and sediment into Quesnel Lake,” he says.

Corneil says people using well water still need to follow their usual precautions, such as measuring turbidity, to ensure their water is safe.

The Community Transition Manager from the Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training will be on the ground on Monday, co-locating with the United Steelworkers at their local office in Williams Lake, to coordinate support and gather intelligence on worker and community impacts and services.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Energy and Mines has released a summary of inspection reports showing there have been 16 geotechnical inspections at the Mount Polley mine since it was given a permit in 1995.

Priority now is to ease pressure on Polley Lake

The priority for crews working on the failed tailings pond is to draw down water levels at Polley Lake. The debris sent into the lake is preventing it to drain naturally.

The buildup of sediment in the lake may present safety issues, explains Al Richmond of the Cariboo Regional District.

“The level of that lake has risen about 1.7 metres higher than desired. The problem is with that sediment sitting there, should we get additional rains, those tailings could be sent down into Quesnel Lake again,” he says.

“We don’t want to see that happen. We are trying to relieve the pressure by lowering water levels, which allow the crews to safely get in and begin to do work and keep those tailings up in that area.”

A pipeline will take excess water directly into Quesnel Lake.