Take action: Pull the Pipes from Quesnel Lake

Pull the pipes
from Quesnel Lake

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Customize your letter demanding that the discharge pipes are moved from Quesnel Lake

Carol

Danyluk

Government of British Columbia

Dear Ms Danyluk,

Seven years have passed since the Mount Polley mine disaster, without charges or penalties for those responsible for the biggest environmental mining disaster in Canadian history. While communities wait for Canada to lay criminal charges for events that led to the disaster, I am writing to urge you to respect the wishes of area residents and Indigenous peoples and revoke Mount Polley Mining Corporation’s (MPMC) water discharge permit and remove the discharge pipes from Quesnel Lake.

In early 2020, BC’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy approved a new permit to allow the Mount Polley mine to continue discharging mine waste water into Quesnel Lake until the end of 2022. This was a huge disappointment to area residents and Indigenous peoples who expect the provincial government to uphold its human rights obligations. The right to a healthy environment is crucial for the realization of human rights.

As requested by affected communities, please compel Imperial Metals and its subsidiary, Mount Polley Mining Corporation, to install best available technologies to treat wastewater at the site and choose a more suitable location for effluent discharge.

I further urge you to monitor and publicly report on the health of Quesnel Lake and to ensure that no further harm is done to the lake while the discharge permit is being challenged by the CCQL in BC’s Environmental Appeal Court.

Finally, please ensure that MPMC posts a full financial surety bond for remediation and ongoing water treatment at the Mount Polley mine site.

Sincerely,

{user_data~First Name} {user_data~Last Name}
{user_data~City}, {user_data~Province}

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Mount Polley needs to stop polluting Quesnel Lake

In 2020, the BC Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy approved a new permit to allow the Mount Polley mine to keep discharging mine waste water into Quesnel Lake until the end of 2022. The Mount Polley 2014 tailings dam disaster has had long-term consequences for those who rely on Quesnel Lake - or Yuct Ne Senixymetkwe in the Secwepemc language - for food, livelihoods and cultural practices. 

Indigenous peoples and area residents continue to call on the province and Imperial Metals to pull the discharge pipes from Quesnel Lake. The Concerned Citizens of Quesnel Lake (CCQL) are urging Amnesty activists to support the call to protect Quesnel Lake from further industrial contamination.  

Let the BC government and those responsible for Mount Polley know that it’s time to live up to their obligations to protect Indigenous rights, support communities and safeguard water

“Addressing the harms caused by the Mount Polley mine disaster is a small part of what the Province must do to safeguard the collective rights of Indigenous peoples to our lands and cultures” - Bev Sellars, acclaimed author and former Chief of the Xats’ull Indian Band

Additional Information

1. Background

The 2014 Mount Polley mine disaster in British Columbia’s Cariboo region, also known as Secwepemeculecw, was a devastating reminder of what can go wrong when governments fail to suitably regulate companies. The copper mine’s tailings pond collapse led to the destruction of Hazeltine Creek – a fish-bearing creek - and contamination of the western basin of Quesnel Lake. Remediation efforts did not remove toxic tailings sediment from the lake, leading locals to fear for their health and that of the fish and aquatic life in the lake. Scientists at the University of Northern British Columbia have reported on changes to the wester basin waters since the disaster.  

In 2017, to compound matters and frustrate locals who opposed it, the province issued the company a permit to pipe untreated, filtered mine wastewater into Quesnel Lake until 2022. Residents and Indigenous peoples have been fighting to have the discharge pipes removed from Quesnel Lake and for the Province to compel the company to implement on-site wastewater treatment. 

Two United Nations bodies, the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights and the Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, have since highlighted the Mount Polley mine disaster and called on Canada to bring those responsible for the disaster to justice and provide remedy to those who were harmed. Living in a healthy environment is integral to enjoying a range of universal human rights. Canadians expect all levels of government to uphold their human rights obligations.

Shockingly, despite these recommendations and a criminal investigation lasting four years, the government of Canada has not taken legal action. 

To learn more about the human rights impacts of the 2014 Mount Polley mine disaster on Yuct Ne Senixymetkwe or Quesnel Lake and area residents, please visit our website.

Discharge pipes in Quesnel Lake

The BC government gave the mining company a permit to dump untreated, filtered mine wastewater into the lake until 2022.

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Pull the pipes from Quesnel Lake