B.C. First Nations urge province not to cherry pick from mine report advice – CP

Source: The Canadian Press
Feb 3, 2015 23:12

By Geordon Omand

THE CANADIAN PRESS

VANCOUVER _ First Nations leaders are urging the B.C. government to adopt each of the seven recommendations laid out in a review of the Mount Polley mine disaster.

First Nations Summit Grand Chief Ed John said the resulting “massive breach of public confidence” means the province cannot afford to cherry-pick from the conclusions of a report into a tailings dam failure in the province’s Interior.

John made the comments Tuesday, the same day Imperial Metals Corp. (TSX:III) announced conservation and fisheries’ officers served search warrants on the company’s headquarters and Mount Polley offices as part of an investigation into possible breaches of the Fisheries Act.

“I think when you mix water and tailings it’s a recipe for disaster,” John told a news conference Tuesday, commending the work of a government-ordered expert panel that blamed poor dam design for the collapse at the open pit gold and copper mine.

The report, released last week, said building the mine’s tailings site on a sloped glacial lake failed to account for drainage and erosion.

It likened the ad hoc approach to the pond’s design and construction to loading a gun and pulling the trigger.

“We urge the province of British Columbia b
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