BCMLR supports Xatśūll First Nation’s legal challenge against BC over Mount Polley tailings dam

Press Release

Xatśūll First Nation filed a judicial review on April 15 challenging the BC government’s decision not to require an environmental assessment for the proposed expansion of the Mount Polley’s tailings dam.

Mount Polley was responsible for Canada’s worst mining disaster in 2014, when a tailings dam failure released 25 million cubic metres of contaminated waste into Polley Lake, Hazeltine Creek, Quesnel Lake, and the broader Fraser River watershed, causing long-lasting environmental and cultural harm.

The expansion would raise the dam by four metres, with Mount Polley Mining Corporation signalling its intent to raise the dam by a further 13 metres in the near future. Such an increase in capacity means even higher stakes in the event of failure.

The decision was approved without the consent of Xatśūll First Nation, whose traditional territory Mount Polley sits on, in contradiction to provincial law that upholds the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.

In recent months, we’ve seen a growing push from the BC government to fast-track mining projects under the banner of “critical minerals” and economic security, while environmental protections and Indigenous rights are increasingly being sidelined.

BCMLR Co-chair and National Program Co-Lead with MiningWatch Canada, Jamie Kneen, said “If the Province wants to be taken seriously when it promotes its mining regulations as ‘world-leading,’ it needs to follow its own laws to uphold the rights of Indigenous Nations and protect communities and watersheds. We are very grateful to Xatśūll First Nation for taking this action for real accountability.”

Photo: Kukpi7 (Chief) Rhonda Phillips speaking outside Vancouver Law Courts, 15 April 2025. Credit: Geoff Howe.

Xatśūll First Nation argues that the Province’s decision violates environmental laws by proceeding without an environmental assessment and fails to uphold Indigenous rights and its commitments to the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA).

“The Province continues to demonstrate it is unwilling or unable to responsibly regulate mining in our Territory, with its past actions and its recent decision to expedite natural resource projects to stimulate economic growth in response to the current political and economic climate.” – Kukpi7 (Chief) Rhonda Phillips

Kukpi7 (Chief) Rhonda Phillips stated that Xatśūll “will continue withholding consent for the Mount Polley Mine expansion” until their serious concerns are adequately addressed.

Read Xatśūll First Nation’s press release here.

Featured image: Xatśūll First Nation members and supporters gathered in support of Xatśūll’s judicial review filing outside of the Vancouver Law Courts, 15 April 2025. [Photo credit: Geoff Howe]

IBF4