Search warrant executed at Imperial Metals
Posted February 3, 2015 10:16 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – A search warrant was executed at Imperial Metals offices today. It’s all part of a joint investigation into last August’s Mount Polley Mine tailings pond spill. The breach sent millions of cubic meters of water and toxic silt into lakes in the Cariboo region, devastating the area.
Inspector Chris Doyle with the BC Conservation Service says a multi-agency investigation into possible environmental wrongdoing is underway.
“The Mount Polley investigative team continues to utilize a myriad of investigational techniques in an effort to gather the best evidence to be presented to provincial and federal prosecutors. The investigation utilized may include but are not limited to the interview of witnesses, gathering of technical evidence, the execution of production and search warrants,” explains Doyle.
He says the BC Conservation Service has spearheaded the investigation.
“We are engaged in a major investigation. If there’s an environmental violation we are the primary natural resource law enforcement agency in BC so we have been involved with several large complications in the past.”
Other agencies involved include Environment Canada, the Environment Enforcement Division, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Conservation and Protection and the RCMP.
Dr. Craig Orr with the Watershed Watch Salmon Society is glad there’s an investigation but questions how long it’s taken.
“I would have loved to have seen, some concrete action like this much earlier considering the scope of this disaster, but governments don’t act quickly and sometimes they don’t act at all. British Columbians are probably quite right in saying why has it taken this long to apparently get more serious with industry and trying to clean up how they do business and I think everybody is going to be watching these results fairly carefully.”
If the company is found at fault, he doesn’t feel a fine will make a difference. He’s hoping this investigation will encourage the mining industry to do a better job and improve government regulations.
