More tests show water near failed tailings pond is safe to drink
Posted August 9, 2014 7:20 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
LIKELY (NEWS1130) – The province says the latest tests done at Lake Polley continue to indicate that the water is safe enough to drink and bathe in.
The lake and nearby waterways were the recipient of millions of cubic feet of water from an Imperial Metals tailings pond on Monday.
Environment Minister Mary Polak says the water will be tested daily.
“Today’s results are samples collected August 6 from six sights from Quesnel Lake and along Quesnel River. This reinforces Interior Medical Health Officer Dr. Trevor Corneil’s decision yesterday to rescind part of the water ban.”
Despite these reassuring results, there is still a partial ban in place affecting about 200 people living in the area.
Water quality is also important as crews contemplate releasing pressure from Lake Polley by diverting water into a pipeline downstream to Quesnel Lake.
Minister of Mining Bill Bennett, meantime, is taking issue with reports that the engineers who designed the pond told the mine that there were problems with the pond.
The engineers, who work with Knight Piésold Consulting, had written a letter and sent it to Imperial Metals as they let the company know they would be withdrawing from from work on the pond. The letter said the pond was getting large.
“That wasn’t a warning. It’s been characterized that way, but that’s not a warning, that’s actually a fairly typical letter that you’d get from any engineer record leaving a project,” says Bennett.
He expects a slew of litigation will result in the disaster, as companies sort out who was to blame.
Jennifer McGuire with the Ministry of Environment says despite rumours, they’ve only recovered one dead fish.
“I have had one person who works at the UNBC research station that has identified a dead fish. We have collected that fish and it is off to the lab for analysis.”
The ministry is also collecting live fish for testing.
The partial water ban may be rescinded as early as Monday, depending on the results of water testing.
