If the president of Imperial Mines is so certain the water is drinkable then he should have it bottled up and delivered to his home for all his family and friends to drink. Even our federal environment ministry states the tailing pond contains arsenic, lead, mercury, copper etc. Please don’t add insult to injury.
Adding to the damage, B.C. Mines Minister Bill Bennet sounded more like the public relations spokesperson for Imperial Metals on the evening news rather than the man responsible for properly policing this industry that caused this disaster.
When will this BC Liberals realize that it is not just about money to be a responsible government.
R Fitzpatrick
Dear Premier and Leader of the Opposition;
Watching the devastation of the beautiful pristine environment around Quesnel Lake destroyed, reminds me that only two or three decades ago we drank water directly from the lake while on a camping trip in the area. Quesnel and Horsefly lakes – God’s country indeed.
But times have changed. Today, global population is stretching Earth’s capacity.
We must finally recognize that clean, fresh water is more precious than gold.
We need to ask ourselves some hard questions:
Can’t we improve tailings ponds security? Isn’t there a more permanently secure way to retain these toxic wastes than by earthen dams? Even the slightest risk that we’ll see arsenic, mercury, cyanide, etc. in waters that feed salmon, deer, waterfowl, large predators like bear, and wolves (pity they can’t read the danger notices we put up), as well as humans, must mean we stop and change practices.
I wonder if concrete dams and permanent liners couldn’t work better.
We retain clean water behind concrete dams; why not the toxic stuff?
Improvements could bring B.C. and Canada to the world forefront in safety research, and practice. Both government and industry must finance this work.
The best ways to encourage safety improvements are monetary.
Mining companies must be on the hook to remediate the entire debacle, and if they go bankrupt, then their CEO’s must be personally liable, or go to jail.
On the positive side, those that put in reliable improvements to contain wastes safely, encourage recycling, etc. should get substantial tax breaks.
British Columbia is not a Third World resource dump, and industrial practices must change with the times.
Can you imagine this happening in Germany?
Can you even imagine this sort of operation being allowed in Europe?
Canada needs to get with the times. The mindless frontier days are over, period!
Eva Lyman
