The Mount Polley Mine disaster will have an effect on the company, Imperial Metals, for some time.
The tailings pond debacle is already having its effect on some businesses in the Likely/Quesnel Lake area and it won’t be long before that fiscal downfall will reach Williams Lake and the rest of the Cariboo.
The men and women who work at Mount Polley spend their paychecks in this town and for those who become unemployed until the mine can once again begin operation, they won’t be spending as much money, because employment insurance isn’t that lucrative.
The environmental side of this whole equation will also be very costly and I know the government has given the mine a time line to come up with some answers regarding the failed tailings pond and what they will be doing for the cleanup.
I know Mount Polley is a medium-sized mining company and is a good corporation.
They are now looking at opening another mine, Red Chris in B.C.’s north, however, you can bet now there will be a closer look at the tailings pond for that mine, and I suspect all tailings ponds in B.C. will come under closer scrutiny in the future.
Congratulations to Save-On-Foods in Williams Lake and the Canadian Red Cross for their contribution of 18,000 500 milliliter bottles of water along with 1,440 bottles of four-litre size to the good folks in Likely and area who did not have drinking water.
It was interesting reading the comments online in various media regarding the Mount Polley meltdown.
Somebody wrote that mines are ticking time bombs, and whole generations of salmon would be lost.
There were other comments about those corporate cheer leaders in Prime Minister Stephen Harper and B.C. Premier Christy Clark.
“Those two, who are wrecking the environment and whatever you do, don’t vote for them or their party in the next election.”
Hmmm, I wonder which party those dudes are supporting?
Maybe it was the same party that didn’t want Prosperity Mine.
I’m not sure how this will play out in the end, however, I do hope for the best for the mine, for the environment, for the employees, and for our economy.
Ken Wilson is a freelance columnist with the Tribune/Weekend Advisor.
