B.C. adds new laws to bolster mine dam safety
The B.C. government introduced regulatory changes Wednesday designed to strengthen the safety of mine-waste storage facilities and their earth-and-rock dams, a response to the catastrophic failure of Imperial Metals’ Mount Polley mine dam two years ago.
The changes address 20 of 26 recommendations from a government-appointed engineering panel and the office of chief inspector of mines, according to the provincial government.
The changes set factors of safety and limits to the steepness of dam slopes, issues addressed by both investigations.
Other changes require that all mines must put in place an independent review panel of engineers, who must be approved by the chief inspector of mines.
New mines must also provide an alternate assessment of best available technology in their provincial applications, meant to address a recommendation from the government-appointed engineering panel that called for a move away from storing mine waste, called tailings, under water and behind earth-and rock dams.
However, environmental groups questioned how the changes would move the province away from underwater mine-waste storage, which they have pinpointed as a critical issue.
The remaining six recommendations — including beefing up government-specialized oversight of mine dams — are expected to be addressed by early 2017.
The changes to the Health, Safety and Reclamation Code for Mines in British Columbia are the first since 2008 and follow from work done by a group of government, industry, labour and First Nation representatives. Environmentalists were excluded from the government-appointed review committee.
“I think what we have done here and what we will do in the next few months will prevent a major accident from happening with a (tailings storage facility) here in British Columbia. I am absolutely convinced of that,” said B.C. Minister of Energy and Mines Bill Bennett.
Mining Watch Canada program coordinator Ugo Lapointe said there is a discrepancy between the new rules and recommendations from the government-appointed panel, which clearly said a key component of best available technology was removing water from minewaste storage.
The panel had suggested the use of dry-stacking tailings as an example of an alternative storage method.
Nikki Skuce, of the environmental group Northern Confluence (part of the International Boreal Conservation Campaign), said she could not see how requiring an alternative assessment of best available technology would demand best alternatives.
And NDP mining critic Norm Macdonald said rule changes alone are not going to improve safety, stressing the B.C. Liberal government needs to get serious about enforcing rules.
“I think we still have every reason to doubt this government’s commitment to enforcement,” said Macdonald, noting that the mining industry is a large monetary donor to the governing Liberals.
Following the chief inspector of mines investigation no charges were forwarded to Crown. The B.C. Conservation Officer Service still has an investigation underway.
Bennett acknowledged more resources will be needed in the ministry of mines to increase oversight.
Mining Association of B.C. president Karina Brino said while the new regulations come with a cost, companies acknowledge the changes are needed to ensure safety.
The code changes also require companies to set measurable objectives for items such as the height of water below the dam’s top, the number of dam-movement instruments that must be installed and the width of beaches (made of finely ground rock from the milling process) to provide a safety buffer.
Mines must now also have a tailings management system that requires regular audits.
Engineers of record and mine managers are also required to report problems to regulators.
The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of B.C. has also developed guidelines for tailing storage facilities.