Tag: environmental monitoring

Categories
Monitoring

Mount Polley Environmental Monitoring

Remediated wetland habitat in Polley Flats
Remediated wetland habitat in Polley Flats

Environmental monitoring programs and closure research projects at Mount Polley mine site continue as planned. Remediation construction at the lower Hazeltine Creek and Edney Creek began this summer. Mount Polley staff, with assistance from Golder Associates Ltd., have begun development of the 2022 Water Management Plan.

Monitoring activities include regular water quality and toxicity sampling at:

  • water treatment plant (WTP) 
  • surface waters of Polley Lake, Bootjack Lake, Hazeltine Creek, Edney Creek & Quesnel Lake
  • mine contact waters including groundwater & mine seepage with flow rates

Regular inspections of all critical ditches, sumps, ponds, pumping systems and pipelines.

Ongoing surveys and studies include:

  • spawning activity in Hazeltine & Edney Creeks
  • remediated terrestrial habitats; vegetation growth, nesting sites and wildlife usage
  • aquatic habitats; fish population & tissue, zooplankton, phytoplankton, benthic invertebrates and sediments in Bootjack, Polley & Quesnel Lakes
  • dilution modelling of the Quesnel Lake discharge
  • semi-passive and passive water treatment options for closure which include a constructed wetland treatment system pilot study and a saturated rock fill bench scale test
Tour of aquatic habitat construction in lower Hazeltine Creek
Tour of aquatic habitat construction in lower Hazeltine Creek
Hazeltine Creek Reach One revegetated riparian area
Categories
Remediation

Mount Polley water quality is evidence of remediation

Mount Polley water quality
Water quality and monitoring is fundamental to the Mount Polley remediation process for site recovery.

Mount Polley takes water quality very seriously. Extensive monitoring is evidencing the effectiveness of the remediation and site water management programs undertaken by Mount Polley.

How is water quality monitored in Polley and Quesnel Lakes to ensure proper environmental monitoring is being carried out?

  • Mount Polley follows the BC-ENV approved Comprehensive Environmental Monitoring Plan. The results for all our monitoring sites are published in the publicly available Annual Environmental and Reclamation Reports.
  • You can find a link to the current report here: 2019 Environmental Report 
  • Polley Lake water met all BC Water Quality Guidelines for aquatic life parameters in 2019 with the exception of phosphorus, which was elevated even prior to mining. As Polley Lake is immediately adjacent to the mine site, this indicates the mine is doing a very good job of capturing and controlling run-off.
  • A number of sites are monitored in Quesnel Lake, and in 2019 there were no exceedances of acute BC Water Quality Guidelines.
  • At one monitoring site in Quesnel Lake, there was one minor copper exceedance of chronic BC Water Quality Guidelines in 2019, but as copper is also naturally occurring in the native soils and sediments around Quesnel Lake, and there are a number of creeks that empty into the lake near this sample site, it is difficult to know if this exceedance was natural or related to the mine.

We often get asked if we continue to discharge into Polley Lake or Quesnel Lake?

The mine discharges mine site water, that meets strict permit limits, through diffusers at depth into Quesnel Lake. This water is the only substance the mine is discharging to Quesnel Lake. The mine does not discharge water into Polley Lake.

  • Mount Polley discharges only mine site water that meets strict Environmental Management Act (EMA) permit guidelines.
  • treated by a water treatment plant, when needed to meet permit requirements, before being released into Quesnel Lake. The water going into the treatment plant (influent) is monitored on an ongoing basis, and the treated water leaving the plant (effluent) is sampled regularly for analysis. Not all water at Mount Polley requires treatment to meet EMA permit water quality guidelines before discharge, and in the past, water that was simply stored in Springer Pit was found suitable for passive discharge.
  • The lake water quality is also routinely monitored and sampled regularly as part of the mine’s Comprehensive Environmental Monitoring Plan.

Continued monitoring data confirm that remediation efforts are effective.

  • Currently, there are no indications in the monitoring data that the water discharged from Mount Polley is having any negative effects on Quesnel Lake water quality or aquatic life.
  • If you are interested in looking at water quality data collected on surface water in the area around the Mount Polley mine, in addition to data in the mine’s annual reports, results are available through the BC Government Surface Water Monitoring Sites Interactive Map.

Categories
Community Remediation

Staying connected to the community during Mount Polley’s remediation

Did you know that over the past six years, over 39 community meetings have been organized and hosted by Mount Polley management and environmental staff?

Mount Polley is committed to the environment and to ensuring the community is kept up to date on remediation efforts.

Over 24 meetings have been held in Likely, the community in closest proximity to the Mount Polley mine. Meetings have also been held in the communities of Quesnel, Horsefly, Big Lake and Williams Lake.

These meetings provide an opportunity for local residents to learn about the activities and progress of the remediation work and research programs being conducted, and the opportunity to engage and ask questions.

There is still work being done to complete the rebuilding of fish habitat in Hazeltine Creek. The rebuilding and revegetating of the lower part of the creek will be the last part of the remediation work to be done.

Guest speakers have included consultants and representatives from provincial Ministries who help educate the local community about environmental remediation.

Furthermore Mount Polley has established The Mount Polley Mine Public Liaison Committee (PLC).The PLC is comprised of representatives from the local communities of Likely, Big Lake, Horsefly and Williams Lake, local First Nations, government ministries, consultants and mine staff.

Meetings are held on a quarterly basis, with the purpose to share information about activities at the mine site with the PLC members, who are there as representatives of their communities. The agenda for each meeting includes updates on mine operations, environmental monitoring, and remediation. There is also a roundtable discussion at each meeting for all participants to pose questions and discuss any community concerns.

Categories
Remediation

Mount Polley Remediation’s 2019 Environmental Update

Extensive remediation work in the areas affected by the 2014 breach at Mount Polley has been achieved during the past five years.

Over $70 million dollars has been spent on clean-up work, including environmental impact and risk assessment studies, and remediation and monitoring of areas impacted by the spill.

Throughout 2019, the environmental department collected 1,115 water and soil samples. 336 surface water, 234 lake samples, 104 contact water, 77 groundwater, 181 seep, and 153 soil/other samples.

The construction on Hazeltine Creek concluded at the beginning of October and will re-commence at Lower Hazeltine in the Spring of 2020. The flow of Hazeltine Creek was monitored monthly.

There are 3 on-site environmental technicians to do the water sampling, environmental monitoring, inspections including reporting, database, spreadsheet data entry, communication, and coordinating meetings/tours.

Even though environmental monitoring slows down in the winter months, the environmental staff remain busy in the office with reporting, data entry, database management, scheduling, meetings, shoveling snow and general cleaning duties.

We continue to work hard to exemplify the highest site remediation standards and look forward to updating you as our work continues.