First Nations, environmentalists and just about everyone else are aghast at the severity of the toxic spill from a tailings pond.
On August 4 the tailings pond of the gold and copper open-pit Polley Mine, operated by Imperial Metals Corp., breached and sent billions of gallons of metals-laden silt and water into waterways awaiting the return of the salmon.
RELATED: Horrific Toxic Spill in B.C. Called Another Exxon Valdez
The mess has only just begun to wreak its environmental havoc, with campgrounds evacuated, a local emergency declared and a fishing ban imposed, among other immediate effects. Long-term damage is not yet known, and Imperial officials say they have no idea why it happened.
But company president Brian Kynoch told CBC News that the tailings pond isn’t so bad and that he would even consider drinking it.
RELATED: Pour Him a Tall One! Mining Exec Insists He'd Drink Water From Tailings Pond
Imperial has been given a deadline for dealing with the situation, the Vancouver Sun reported in a story with extensive video as well.
The jarring footage below from flyovers would seem to belie that notion. The first one was posted by Global BCTV and the second, a half-hour long, is raw footage taken by the local government.
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Mount Polley Mine tailings pond breach is one of the worst in the world: Experts
VANCOUVER – At this point it is unclear just how far reaching the damage is and just how much it will cost to clean up the mess.
Environmental experts say it’s one of the worst tailings pond breaches in the world.
When the pond burst it sent millions of cubic meters of sludge and water cascading through the natural landscape.
It caused massive damage to everything in its path.
The government says it’s really too early to know how long the cleanup will take and how much it will cost.
But we can compare it to a tailings pond breach in Tennessee in 2008. Officials there anticipated the cleanup would take six months, but within that time, they only managed to cleanup three per cent of the destruction.
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At the rate noted in the above article it would take approximately TWENTY YEARS or more to clean up the destruction caused by this tragedy. The company as it is in collusion with the government will more than likely just get a fine and then not have to clean it up in total leaving citizens responsible. I really do not know what else to type. The same words have been typed over and over and over again on this blog. All I can do looking at this is cry. Notice they claim "they have no idea how it happened" even in light of this: Firm that designed original Mount Polley tailings dam says it warned of growing size.
And then the usual line from the company head:
"But company president Brian Kynoch told CBC News that the tailings pond isn’t so bad and that he would even consider drinking it."
I will however, say this in response to the quoted sentence above: I dare you Bryan Kynoch, you soulless ass, I want to see you DRINK THAT WATER IN PUBLIC. So sick of these rich arrogant nature killers saying things like this to validate their ecocide and not following through.
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