http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia
11 months after its tailings pond collapsed, Mount Polley mine set to get approval to reopen
Less than a year after the Mount Polley tailings pond collapsed, spilling toxic waste water in central B.C. waterways, the mine could reopen as early as July, says B.C. Energy and Mines Minister Bill Bennett.
“The public, I’m sure, assumes that politicians make these decisions and we often don’t,” said Bennett. “I’m advised by the statutory decision makers in this case that the information from the company is there. Its being assessed. It’s probable Mount Polley will get a permit to open in the next couple of weeks.”
Last August, a wall of the Mount Polley tailings pond broke and spilled 10 billion litres of water and 4.5 million cubic metres of sand laden with toxic arsenic, nickel and lead into B.C.’s waterways.