Imperial Metals seeks to present evidence before decision on potential Mt. Polley environmental prosecution
Credit to Author: Gordon Hoekstra| Date: Mon, 26 Aug 2019 23:49:33 +0000
Imperial Metals wants evidence from a trial on the responsibility for the Mount Polley mine dam failure to be considered in a prosecutorial decision by Canada against the company for potential environmental damage charges relating to the breach.
In a petition filed in B.C. Supreme Court on Aug. 19, Imperial Metals says the evidence of former-British Columbia chief inspector of mines Al Hoffman is of “fundamental importance” to establishing whether there is any reasonable prospect of securing a conviction against the company under the federal Fisheries Act, and whether it is in the public interest to launch such a prosecution.
The mining company has asked for the court’s permission to use Hoffman’s evidence and related B.C. government responses collected during the discovery stage, information normally only to be used in the lawsuit for which it is gathered.
In its petition to the court, Imperial Metals’ lawyer Gavin Cameron wrote that Hoffman testified regarding the “lack of foreseeability of the failure of the (Mount Polley mine waste dam) to both the regulator and (Imperial Metals).”
The petition notes that where there has been due diligence, there can be no conviction.
According to the company’s petition, the B.C. government declined to give its voluntary consent to the evidence’s release.
Imperial Metals, which sued two engineering firms over the dam failure, won a $108 million settlement at the end of 2018 in the trial in which Hoffman provided evidence.
But following a 4-1/2 year investigation by federal and provincial agencies, Imperial Metals still faces potential prosecution under the Fisheries Act.
A team comprised of officials with Environment Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada, along with the B.C. Conservation Officer Service, delivered a charge package to federal prosecutors this spring.
The Public Prosecution Service of Canada, with the help of the B.C. Prosecution Service, is assessing whether to lay charges.
“(Imperial Metals) wish to provide Mr. Hoffman’s evidence to the investigative and prosecutorial agencies involved with the Fisheries Act investigation, to ensure material and relevant facts are known and are taken into account before decisions as to the expenditure of enormous public time and resources are made,” stated Cameron in the company’s petition.
A five-year window ended Aug. 4 that would have allowed charges in a summary conviction under the Fisheries Act, where a large corporation faces fines up to $8 million.
However, federal prosecutors can still lay more serious charges as an indictment — which come with higher maximum fines of $12 million — where there is no timeline.
Another deadline already passed at the three-year mark, when British Columbia officials decided not to lay charges.
One of the largest mining-dam failures in the world in the past 50 years, the Aug. 4, 2014, dam collapse of Imperial Metals Mount Polley gold mine in the B.C. Interior shook the industry and caused concern among the public, First Nations and environmental groups that aquatic life would be harmed, particularly salmon that use the Quesnel Lake system to spawn.
The failure at the Mount Polley gold and copper mine’s earth-and-rock dam spilled millions of cubic metres of mine effluent and tailings into Quesnel Lake, after scouring nine kilometres of Hazeltine Creek, where trout and coho salmon spawned.
The mine effluent and tailings consisted of finely ground rock, remaining after the milling process to extract gold and copper, that contain potentially toxic metals. Imperial Metals has spent millions of dollars to rehabilitate Hazeltine Creek.
The tailings dumped into Quesnel Lake remain at the bottom of the lake. Studies on the effect of the spill are expected to continue for years.