Auditor General Blasts 'Major Gaps' in BC's Mining Oversight
Responsibility to regulate industry should be removed from ministry, finds scathing report.
To avoid more
disasters like the 2014 failure of the tailings pond dam at Mount Polley mine,
responsibility for regulating mining in British Columbia should be taken away
from the ministry that also promotes the industry, concludes a new report from
the province's auditor general.
"[The
Ministry of Energy and Mines'] role to promote mining development is
diametrically opposed to compliance and enforcement," wrote Carol
Bellinger in the 109-page report "An Audit of
Compliance and Enforcement of the Mining Sector."
"This
framework, of having both activities within [Energy and Mines], creates an
irreconcilable conflict," she said. "Because compliance and
enforcement is the last line of defence against environmental degradation,
business as usual cannot continue."
Work on the
audit was already underway when the Mount Polley disaster happened, causing the
damaging release of some 25 million cubic metres of wastewater and tailings
from the Imperial Metals mine 56 kilometres northeast of Williams Lake.
"We noted
the same issues in the Mount Polley file as we did throughout the audit,"
Bellringer said. "That is, too few resources, infrequent inspections, and
lack of enforcement."
The ministry
failed to "ensure that the tailings dam was being built or operated
according to the approved design, nor did it ensure that the mining company
rectified design and operational deficiencies," the report found.
Go to the link above to read the complete report.
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