Latest news with #NikkiSkuce
National Observer
25-06-2025
- Business
- National Observer
First Nation battles to stop history repeating at Mount Polley mine
More than a decade after the catastrophic collapse of the Mount Polley tailings dam, a BC First Nation is back in court this week challenging the province's decision to approve expansion of a dam at the same mine. The 2014 collapse of the tailings dam at the Mount Polley copper and gold mine operated by Imperial Metals — sent a massive volume of mine waste into local lakes and rivers, causing widespread environmental damage from which the ecosystem is still recovering. Despite this history, the province recently approved an expansion of the dam at the site northeast of Williams Lake — allowing the tailings dam to be raised by four metres — from its current height of 60 metres. The dam holds tailings — the leftover materials and water from processing ore. The company says the expansion is needed to continue storing this waste as mining continues. Xatśūll First Nation is asking the court for an injunction to prevent the company from depositing any new mining waste into the expanded section of the facility until a full judicial review is complete. 'The mine basically patched up its tailings and got a permit to start operating again. Now, they're proposing to keep raising the dam height — literally on the same dam that busted out,' said Nikki Skuce, director of the Northern Confluence and co-chair of the BC Mining Law Reform Network, a coalition of organizations and experts advocating for stronger mining laws and environmental protections in BC. 'It's totally understandable that local First Nations and communities want more oversight.' The First Nation argues the province approved the expansion based on narrow engineering rules under the Mines Act, without doing a full environmental assessment or properly consulting the affected Nation, as required by BC's Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. 'We are standing up to demand accountability, transparency and a proper assessment process that respects Indigenous knowledge and law,' said Rhonda Phillips, chief of Xatśūll First Nation in the press release. The company has also signalled an intent to raise the dam by a further 13 metres in the near future and expand pits at the mine. 'The mine basically patched up its tailings and got a permit to start operating again. Now, they're proposing to keep raising the dam height — literally on the same dam that busted out,' said Nikki Skuce, director of the Northern Confluence. The hearings are scheduled to continue until Friday, and soon after, the court is expected to decide whether to extend the current hold it set in May on Mount Polley's use of the higher tailings dam beyond July 1, 2025. This will make sure no lasting environmental damage happens while the court takes its time to decide — a process that could stretch out for weeks or even months. If the court doesn't extend the hold, Mount Polley could start using the expanded dam before a final decision is made. Legacy of disaster and distrust In 2014, the Mount Polley dam failed, spilling 25 million cubic metres of contaminated water and mine waste into Polley Lake, Hazeltine Creek and Quesnel Lake — waters that are central to salmon runs and local livelihoods. A 2015 report commissioned by the province found the original failure was due to poor design and not accounting for weak glacial silt beneath the tailings facility. For years before the breach, the province had allowed Imperial Metals to raise the dam by over 40 metres — about the height of a 12-storey building — without fully reassessing the risks. The breach dumped tonnes of heavy metals, including lead, cadmium and arsenic into the watershed, with impacts that Xatśūll communities say continue to affect their territory and way of life. 'Mount Polley was responsible for the largest environmental mining disaster in BC history,' Skuce said. 'And yet, up until last year, there were no charges laid against the company. Instead, there have just been permits to continue.' In December 2024, federal prosecutors approved 15 charges under the Fisheries Act against Imperial Metals, Mount Polley Mining Corporation, and engineering firm Wood Canada Ltd., with potential fines ranging from $500,000 to $6 million. This dispute also highlights growing tension in BC between mining projects and Indigenous land rights, especially as mines are increasing in size and are often being developed in more remote locations, including watersheds that support salmon populations, said Jamie Kneen of MiningWatch Canada. 'These processes were put in place and the regulations were put in place because we were having problems. It wasn't because somebody felt like imposing restrictions on industry,' he said. The Mount Polley case is also highlighted in a report by the BC Mining Law Reform Network. The report profiles 12 of BC's most polluting and risky mines, arguing that the province's push to fast-track mining approvals risks repeating past mistakes and undermines both environmental protection and Indigenous rights. Skuce warns that many recommendations from the Mount Polley disaster remain unimplemented and BC still allows the upstream tailings dam design used at Mount Polley — despite other countries like Brazil and Chile banning such structures after major failures. 'The province likes to claim it has the strongest environmental regulations, but that's a self-declared statement,' Skuce said. 'With examples like Mount Polley, Elk Valley selenium pollution, and others, we're a long way from being a responsible mining jurisdiction. We need to be strengthening our regulations and monitoring — not gutting them and bypassing them.' Phillips said the Nation is not against mining, but wants to ensure it is done responsibly and in a way that honours their role as stewards of the land. At the same time, the leaders are concerned the province's decision to bypass environmental assessment and consultation could undermine reconciliation and set a dangerous precedent for resource development across BC. 'This moment is about more than just one mine,' Phillips said. 'It's about the legal and moral obligation to uphold Indigenous rights across BC and beyond. We need to maintain balance in decision making to ensure short-term decisions do not have long-term negative consequences for generations to come.'
CBC
09-06-2025
- Health
- CBC
Cassiar asbestos mine, near Yukon-B.C. border, one of province's most contaminated: mining watchdog
The Cassiar asbestos mine in B.C. closed back in 1992, but decades later, the B.C. Mining Law Reform Network says it remains among the most polluted mine sites in the province. The mine recently made the organization's 2025 Dirty Dozen list. Co-chair Nikki Skuce said the network is increasingly hearing from former workers with health issues. "Lung diseases and asbestos-related diseases, which are pretty deadly and awful, have a latency period of 10 to 40 years," she said. Asbestos — minerals that can cause serious health concerns if breathed in — can no longer be imported, sold or used in Canada. Organizations like WorksafeBC say it still kills more workers in the province than anything else. Some workers and residents from the former Cassiar mine site have died from different lung diseases since the mine shuttered. The site was taken over in 2003 by Cassiar Jade Contracting Inc., which purchased the mine's operating permit for $1 under the condition it would take on $50,000 worth of reclamation work annually. The company is now mining the site for jade. Skuce said she is concerned about whether unsafe conditions persist at the mine. "What are the precautions they're undertaking for that reclamation so they're not also exposing new people to asbestos?" she said. Cassiar Jade president Tony Ritter said the mining and reclamation work performed at the site isn't dangerous. "There's many safety regulations and stuff we would have to follow, and you know, working there now, we follow them," Ritter said. "There's provisions to make sure it's absolutely safe and nobody's exposed to anything that would be harmful to them. "Throughout the history of the mine there and Cassiar, it was very safe," he added. When asked about reports of former workers with cancer, Ritter said it's not clear there's a connection to the mine. "I couldn't say, I'm not a doctor," he said. "I certainly hope not, otherwise I would probably be pretty sick by now." 'Nobody ever told us it was dangerous' Rose Peregoodoff grew up in Cassiar, just over 80 kilometres south of the Yukon border. Both her parents worked at the Cassiar mine. "He was a drill blast foreman, so he was the guy that made the big bang," she said. "He was front and centre where they would blow up the mountaintop … and all that dust and everything … he would be inhaling." She said he later developed asbestosis as well as mesothelioma, a cancer associated with exposure to asbestos. "My mother used to shovel asbestos," she said. "Whatever fell off the conveyor belt in the mine drive, the ladies would shovel back onto the belt. "So my mother was right there too, buried in asbestos. Now she has major lung problems. And, you know, we don't know if it's from the asbestos or not." Peregoodoff said many children who lived in the town ended up being exposed as well. Former residents of Cassiar have described the clouds of dust from the mine that would fall on the town, covering the snow with a layer of green. "We used to use it as papier mâché to make art projects in school," she said. "Heck, we used to play in the tailings pile. We'd slide down it in the summer with little boards and pretend we were sliding down a big snow hill." Years later, as more and more people she knows have health issues, the idea that her lungs could be a ticking time bomb is always in the back of her mind. "Nobody ever told us it was dangerous," she said. "In school, they would come in with these little trays and they'd have these different pieces of asbestos in there, and they'd say we're doing really well [at the mine]. These fibres are long, they're not going to be an issue when you're older." In fact, studies have found that exposure to longer fibres actually increases the risk of lung cancer — although both long and short chrysotile asbestos fibres are toxic. "We ate the snow when we were kids," Peregoodoff added. "Every kid eats snow. So how much asbestos did we ingest?" Skuce said if people like Peregoodoff — who weren't employed by the mining company — develop health issues, it can be difficult for them to get support. "One former resident we talked to grew up there eating snow covered in asbestos dust," she said. "Folks like him are left unable to get WorkSafeBC claims." Progress of remediation efforts Twenty years after the mine's sale, Cassiar Jade Contracting was fined $40,000 for failing to provide a reclamation plan to the province and repeatedly failing to comply with inspection orders, including occupational health and safety requirements. During a hearing with the province, a manager with the Watson Lake-based company stated that shutdown orders from inspectors following asbestos exposure concerns stopped work at the site for around a year. Ritter also told CBC that difficulties brought on by COVID, as well as a company they hired to complete the plan, created delays with the report, but said that reclamation work is underway. The company eventually submitted a reclamation and closure plan in 2024. A few months later, the B.C. Ministry of Energy and Mines issued an order that will effectively end jade mining in northwestern B.C., citing challenges around permitting, compliance and enforcement in the remote region. The company has since launched a lawsuit against the province. Peregoodoff believes regulators should have stepped in sooner to deal with the asbestos tailings pile at the site. "Now, when the big winds come along and blow that dirt and dust everywhere, it's still contaminating the area," said Peregoodoff. "Like who knows what it's doing to the animals there and all the Tlingit and Tahltan and Kaska people that hunt up there." "I'm sure there's some valid concerns there," said Ritter, when asked about Peregoodoff's concerns and the mine site's inclusion in the B.C. Mining Law Reform Network's list. "And to me, that would be another benefit [of continuing]." Ritter said there is magnesium in the tailings pile that could be recovered and "enhance the reclamation process." They're also testing for copper and other minerals at the site. Today, Cassiar, B.C., is a ghost town. But Ritter hopes the company's activities will spark new life in the region — and bring jobs to the neighbouring communities of Dease Lake in B.C and Watson Lake in the Yukon.
