Teck has begun bringing its Elkview water treatment facility expansion online, in a development that doubles the water treatment capacity at the facility.

In a release on Tuesday (Feb. 16), Teck said that the expansion of the Elkview saturated rock fill water treatment facility means it now has the capacity to treat 20 million litres of water per day.

The facility can achieve “near complete removal of selenium and nitrate” from the waters of the Elk Valley according to Teck, and has been doing so (at a capacity of 10 million litres per day) since it first opened in 2018.

“Teck is committed to responsible mining that is protective of the environment and supports the social and economic well-being of the Elk Valley,” said Teck’s Robin Sheremeta, who is senior vice president at Teck Coal.

“The completion of the Elkview Saturated Rock Fill expansion is another important step forward in the implementation of the Elk Valley Water Quality Plan. We continue to make significant progress in advancing the plan and reducing selenium levels throughout the watershed.”

Construction of the facility expansion was completed late last year. Teck said the facility would ramp up to its designed capacity over the next few months.

The company has a goal of having the capacity to treat 47.5 million litres of water per day by the end of 2021 through its existing West Line Creek and Elkview facilities, as well as the Fording River South facility which is currently under construction and scheduled to come online through 2021.

Currently, Teck treats 17.5 million litres of water per day.

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