The Mount Polley Mine tailings pond, near Williams Lake, British Columbia, has been breached, and regional authorities have issued a complete water ban.
The ban regards all water use in the area, and will be in place until further notice. Drinking, cooking and bathing are prohibited.
The ban was enacted by the Cariboo Regional District (CRD). The CRD is currently working with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Emergency Management BC, Central Cariboo Search and Rescue, Mount Polley, Interior Health and other associated agencies.
The breach took place around 3:00 AM. The 4km square tailings pond broached, contaminated water entered Polley Lake, then Quesnel Lake.
The extent and possible impacts of the breach are not yet known.
Residents and visitors are advised to use only bottled water until further information is available.
For further information, the CRD advises visiting their Facebook page, at www.facebook.com/CRDEmergencyOperations, or their website, at cariboord.ca. A public information line has been set up, which can be reached by dialing 250-398-5581.
Mount Polly is an open pit copper and gold mine located in south-central British Columbia, Canada. The mine reaped nearly 40 million pounds of copper in 2013, 45,000 pounds of gold and 125,000 pounds of silver.
Tailings are waste material left over after separating the valuable part of an ore. Modern mining usually takes adequate steps to ensure tailings disposal is environmentally safe. One method of containing tailings is tailings dams, which are often the most significant environmental liability involved in a mining project.
By Day Blakely Donaldson