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A B.C. government audit of regulatory changes introduced in 2016 to improve the safety of mine waste-storage facilities and their earth and rock dams concludes the new rules have “generally” met their objectives but improvements are needed.
The changes were introduced as a result of the catastrophic failure of the tailings pond dam at the Imperial Metals’ Mount Polley gold and copper mine in 2014 in the B.C. Interior. The dam collapse released millions of tonnes of water and finely ground rock containing potentially toxic metals — called tailings — into the environment, including Quesnel Lake.
The first-of-its-kind audit released Friday by the B.C. Ministry of Energy and Mines concluded improvements are needed to clarify ambiguous language in the regulations and to ensure tailings dam safety data is properly collected and compiled so it can be used to verify and enforce compliance.
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The audit report makes seven recommendations, including creating written policies and procedures to prioritize dam safety inspections and revising a guidance document to be consistent with the regulations.
Other recommendations include resolving inconsistencies and overlap in mine waste storage facility rules between mining regulations and dam safety regulations under the Water Sustainability Act, and developing a plan for when and how regulations for tailings storage facilities will be updated to reflect evolving best practices.
The province said it will implement all the recommendations.
The 122-page audit, led by Andrew Rollo, chief auditor and assistant executive director of the mine audit and effectiveness branch, said there have been improvements to the operation of tailings ponds, but there are opportunities to improve the “overall clarity, guidance and application” of the regulations.
The report also shows some mine waste facilities were not in compliance with several key safety regulations.
Of 64 mine waste storage facilities, 28 per cent were not in compliance as of March 2020. Each needed a dam safety inspection, a designated engineer of record, a dam safety manager, and to have set up an independent tailings review board. The last three requirements were part of the regulatory revisions in 2016.
According to the audit, seven of 31 tailings storage facilities with a very high or high consequence rating for a dam failure did not meet the regulatory requirements. Six tailings storage facilities with an extreme consequence failure rating had met the four requirements.
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Nikki Skuce of the environmental group Northern Confluence said the failure of 18 tailings storage facilities to meet just four requirements means that communities and watersheds are still at risk.
“I think there’s a disconnect in the auditor report, that maybe we have good regulations … but that the compliance and enforcement is lacking for tailings safety,” said Skuce.
The Mines Ministry said an update of compliance as of this month showed more tailings storage facilities had met the four requirements.
Now, seven mines, either closed or in care and maintenance status, do not meet the four requirements for tailings storage facilities. Four other mines, including Eskay Creek and Johnny Mountain in northwest B.C., have applied for exemptions from the requirement for an independent tailings review board, according to the updated compliance list.
B.C. Mines Ministry officials said orders have been issued for mines to comply with the four requirements and the province has stepped in to carry out dam safety inspections for four mines that have not done so. Those mines — Coxey, Lawyers, Mt. Copeland and Northair — are all closed.
B.C. Mining Association president Michael Goehring said the audit’s findings show that British Columbians can be confident in the safety of the province’s mine tailings storage facilities.
The audit branch is a new agency, also created after the failure of the Mt. Polley tailings dam.
“This first audit allows us to assess how our mining regulations and standards work, identifying what we can build and improve upon to ensure safety for people, communities and the environment,” Mines Mines Bruce Ralston said in a written statement.
ArtThe regulatory changes introduced in 2016 addressed recommendations from a government-appointed engineering panel and the office of chief inspector of mines, both of which produced reports on the Mt. Polley tailings dam failure.
The mining industry in B.C. and Canada was shaken by the Mount Polley dam failure, one of the largest failures in the past 50 years. It sparked concerns among the public, environmental groups and First Nations that aquatic life would be harmed, particularly salmon that use the Quesnel Lake system to spawn.
Studies on the effect of the spill are expected to continue for years.