Nation files an emergency injunction filed over raising B.C. gold mine's tailings dam
The Xatsull nation announced earlier this month that it had filed a legal challenge over the plan to allow the Mount Polley mine to raise its dam, a decade after a similar storage site at the mine collapsed, setting off an environmental disaster in the nation's territory.
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Global News
07-08-2025
- Global News
B.C. court rejects challenge of Mount Polley dam, says consultation was 'deep'
The B.C. Supreme Court has dismissed a First Nation's bid to stop a tailings dam from being raised at the Mount Polley mine site, which suffered a catastrophic dam collapse that spilled millions of litres of waste and water 11 years ago. The Xatsull First Nation claimed the province's approval of the plan to raise the level of the dam in B.C.'s Interior by four metres was improper and done without 'meaningful' consultation with the nation. 4:31 Will charges ever be laid in the Mt. Polley mine disaster? But Justice Michael Tammen ruled Wednesday that the provincial government's consultation with the Xatsull was proper. Story continues below advertisement 'I view the consultation here as deep and, importantly, the process employed by the province provided Xatsull with ample opportunity to present their perspective,' Tammen said. The First Nation said in a statement it was disappointed in the ruling. 'This is the same facility that breached and devastated Xatsull's territory in 2014 — the worst mining disaster on record. Its impacts are still harming our nation's rights, culture and way of life today,' it said. 'We will be reviewing the decision as well as exploring our options to determine next steps.' Imperial Metals president Bryan Kynoch told reporters in a conference call Wednesday that the court's finding was an 'important decision for the mine.' 'Being able to move ahead with the raise helps us keep operations stable and avoid unnecessary interruptions and disruptions,' he said. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Raising the dam would allow the mine to continue depositing tailings, but Kynock said they're still awaiting another permit amendment that would extend the life of the mine significantly. 'If that doesn't come soon, we may be put in jeopardy of significantly revising operational plans or even ceasing operation if the amendment process is not expedited,' he said. 'While today's decision gives us some clarity, we're clearly not out of the woods yet.' Story continues below advertisement He said the company has the support of the Williams Lake First Nation, and it's 'worked hard' to negotiate and co-operate with the Xatsull First Nation in the past. Tammen found the province fulfilled its duty to consult, and said that had he found otherwise, he would not have hesitated to grant the Xatsull's wishes to have the decision approving the plan reconsidered. 2:11 Mt. Polley mine reopens after tailings pond spill Tammen said Mount Polley Mining Corp.'s plan to raise the tailings storage level was 'comparatively modest,' and the rationale for provincial approval 'readily apparent.' The court had been expected to rule on an application for an injunction Wednesday with a decision on the nation's judicial review to follow, but Tammen dismissed the Xatsull's legal challenge outright and found no basis to grant an injunction to stop the plan from moving ahead. Story continues below advertisement Tammen said raising the dam as proposed 'does not increase the scope of operations at the mine, nor does it increase the ecological footprint of ongoing mining operations.' The judge said the tailings dam failed 'catastrophically' in 2014, which 'has in turn caused widespread and long-lasting environmental damage and corresponding impacts to Xatsull's Aboriginal title, rights, culture, and way of life.' 'Xatsull is obviously and understandably extremely concerned with the potential for a further failure and thus has a corresponding interest in ensuring that the mine is being operated in an environmentally responsible and safe manner,' he said. The judge said he didn't want to dismiss, diminish or minimize the 'deleterious' effects of the tailings dam failure, which is still the subject of civil litigation and Fisheries Act charges against the company. 2:09 Aerials of destruction caused by Mount Polley Mine tailings pond breach Lawyers for Mount Polley and the provincial government claimed the risk of a future tailings dam failure was 'speculative,' while the judge characterized 'it as remote and incapable of even approximate quantification.' Story continues below advertisement The judge ruled that the province's duty to consult relates to only 'current government conduct' rather than any past wrongs or failings, and must focus on 'adverse impacts' from a specific proposal and not 'larger adverse impacts of the project of which it is a part.' Tammen said it was reasonable for B.C.'s environmental assessment office to consider impacts on the First Nation's constitutional rights as a 'starting point' during the consultations that happened during the permitting process. 'That process was aimed at the overarching safety and design issues that were at the heart of Xatsull's concerns,' the judge said. 'If Xatsull asserted other impacts … beyond the risk of further failure of the (tailings storage facility), they had ample opportunity to make those known to the (environmental assessment office), but did not do so.' Chief Rhonda Phillips said earlier this year that the province was allowing the work to proceed without a valid environmental assessment certificate at the site of the spill that sent millions of tonnes of water and tailings into the environment on the nation's territory in B.C.'s Cariboo region. Phillips had said 'meaningful' reform is needed in the aftermath of the 2014 spill because the provincial government is still approving 'risky storage methods' while failing to adequately consult the nation.
Global News
01-07-2025
- Global News
B.C. reports offer ‘road map' for repatriation of Indigenous historical items
A pair of reports out of British Columbia are detailing the complex, expensive and under resourced process of repatriating Indigenous historical items or remains back to their homes. The studies, developed in partnership between the First Peoples' Cultural Council and K'yuu Enterprise Corporation, call for changes including the creation of a centralized body to facilitate the work, a repatriation accreditation program for museums and other institutions, and 'substantial' funding and support from the provincial and federal government. Gretchen Fox, an anthropologist and the council's acting heritage manager, said the growing interest in the moral and ethical requirement for repatriation shows resources are needed to set out steps that could be used in B.C. and in other provinces and territories. 'There was a need for a way forward, or a road map — what's involved in repatriation, what's the history of it,' she said. Story continues below advertisement 'To have a really good understanding and documentation of what's been lost, where these ancestors and belongings are held today, and what kind of work specifically is involved in locating them.' Researchers with the K'yuu Enterprise Corporation did a survey and found more than 2,500 B.C. First Nation human remains and upwards of 100,000 belongings are known to be held in 229 institutions — including museums and universities — around the world. Fox said the survey had only a 50 per cent response rate. 'So, we know that the numbers are much higher, and those numbers are just for ancestors and belongings that are associated with B.C. First Nations,' she said. 2:11 Heiltsuk Nation celebrates 'powerful, emotional' return of historic chief's seat The main report breaks down repatriation into a four-step process starting with planning and research, followed by repatriation itself and the long-term caretaking of the items or remains. Story continues below advertisement It says 60 per cent of B.C. First Nations surveyed have already spent more than $1 million on repatriation work to date. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'Since the Canadian government has yet to commit to dedicated repatriation legislation, policy and funding, many (B.C. First Nations) are reliant on grants and other mechanisms to support their repatriation work,' it says. The report says when applying for grant programs that aren't dedicated to repatriation, nations are forced to focus on strict funding criteria and narrow timelines rather than their own needs. In 2016, B.C. became the first province in Canada to offer a grant to help pay for repatriation. While the report calls that funding 'welcome,' it says the money has not kept pace with requests. It says repatriation in Canada is 'severely underfunded.' 'For decades, B.C. First Nations have funded this work through piecemeal grants and heavy reliance on volunteer labour,' it says. Fox said there are a range of costs, from paying personnel to the technology required to research where items are located or the cost to store them properly. 2:20 Totem's arrival on Nisga'a land reveals the full scope of the work ahead A companion report offers what Fox calls a 'really high level' cost estimate. Story continues below advertisement It suggests that if all 204 B.C. First Nations were funded over five years to participate in repatriation at various stages it would cost an estimated $663 million. Fox said the number is not a request for funding, but rather an attempt to test the model and 'show the monumental, significant, costs of this.' The report says repatriation is also an economic and social driver with benefits like health and healing, jobs and community development. 'It has spiritual and cultural impacts of reconnecting with belongings and carrying out responsibilities to ancestors and It's so meaningful, even if it's engaged at a slower pace, or on a smaller scale,' Fox said. She said having a First Nation-led centralized organizing body and programming to facilitate repatriation would be helpful to provide the opportunity to pool experience and resources. 'First Nations in B.C. are really leading the way in repatriation, and quite a few have quite a bit of expertise and experience around doing the work and also insights into the kinds of supports, whether it's legislation (or) policy,' she said. Inviting museums and other holding institutions would also be beneficial, Fox said. 2:17 Sacred totem pole to return home to Bella Coola In 2023, a totem pole that had been on display at the Royal B.C. Museum, was brought back to Bella Coola, located almost 1,000 kilometres northwest of Vancouver. Story continues below advertisement It was taken in 1913 and became part of the museum's collection. Representatives of the Nuxalk Nation said at the time that they had been trying to get the totem and other artifacts back since 2019. Also in 2023, a memorial totem pole belonging to members of the Nisga'a Nation was returned from the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, where it has been for nearly a century. Last year, the Heiltsuk Nation celebrated the return of a chief's seat that had been in the Royal BC Museum since 1911. Fox said an accreditation program for institutions that hold First Nations' remains and belongings could teach about repatriation and the practices and protocols needed. 'There's not a lot of formal training for folks who are doing the work, so it makes sense for those who are experts to have an arena, to share that,' she said. She said there is still work to be done, but over the last few decades more institutions are recognizing the 'moral and ethical imperative to make things right. That these belongings and ancestors were stolen or taken under duress from First Nations communities, and that the right thing to do is to facilitate their return.' 'At the same time, First Nations repatriation experts are training the next generations within their communities, and they're building relationships with institutions. And so we are seeing some significant movement and recognition that this is the right thing to do,' she said.
Toronto Star
26-04-2025
- Toronto Star
Nation files an emergency injunction filed over raising B.C. gold mine's tailings dam
VANCOUVER - A B.C. First Nation that is going to court to try to stop a mining company from raising its tailings dam is now applying for an emergency injunction to put the construction on hold. The Xatsull nation announced earlier this month that it had filed a legal challenge over the plan to allow the Mount Polley mine to raise its dam, a decade after a similar storage site at the mine collapsed, setting off an environmental disaster in the nation's territory.
