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Friday, August 8, 2014
Vol. 7 • Issue 12
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RDCK sues over mining contaminants Nelson Star
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The Regional District of Central Kootenay has launched a lawsuit against Teck Resources Ltd. over contamination from a tailings pond near Salmo. According to a statement of claim filed late last month with the BC Supreme Court in Vancouver, the regional district wants reimbursement for ongoing remediation work on the old HB mine site, which it bought for landfill purposes in 1998. Teck, formerly Cominco, owned the property from 1955 to 1981 and operated the mine until 1978. The regional district says the contamination consists of lead, zinc, cadmium, and arsenic and that “numerous” tailings releases occurred while the mine operated. It also cited a 2007 incident in which flows from the tailings pond spread to a nearby property. In July 2012, heavy rain caused a sinkhole to form on the pond’s earthen dam. The regional district spent more than $800,000 stabilizing and reconstructing the dam, which it billed to the province. It claims Teck “failed to
take any steps … to prevent the migration of the contamination off of the property to the off-site areas” while the RDCK continues to incur costs for remediation. It says that work includes building an engineered wetland to treat surface water, groundwater monitoring, and completion of a containment berm to prevent leaching. However, it’s not clear from the statement of claim exactly how much taxpayers have been on the hook for. None of the allegations have been proven in court. RDCK chair John Kettle said the lawsuit was filed only after “making every effort” to convince Teck the materials in the tailings pond are their responsibility, even though the company has not owned the property for more than 30 years. “We believe when you create an environmental hazard like that, you can’t just sell it and walk away,” he said. “You’re liable for clean up. We intend to pursue that as aggressively as possible. Their belief that caveat emptor applies is asinine.” Teck said it had yet to Continued on Page 4
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Beating the beach heat
After the hottest July in seven years, August is shaping up to be similarly scorching. Lakeside Park was particularly busy on Tuesday afternoon, with residents engaging in a number of aquatic activities to battle the heat. For more photos, visit nelsonstar.com. Will Johnson photo
Jumbo Glacier
EcoSociety continues legal fight GREG NESTEROFF Nelson Star
A local non-profit society hasn’t given up its legal challenge to the incorporation of Jumbo Glacier mountain resort municipality. A year and a half after filing initial paperwork in the case, the Nelson-based West Kootenay EcoSociety has completed an amended brief asking the BC Supreme Court to quash the municipality’s creation. Executive director David Reid said in an interview Tuesday that
when their original brief was submitted in February 2013, their arguments weren’t fully fleshed out. “We wanted to get our initial petition in as soon as possible, so people couldn’t say ‘You didn’t file soon enough.’ But it’s a complex case. It takes time to arrange legal precedents and do the research.” Reid said the amended petition clarifies their argument that a new municipality must have a local population as well as a defined area. They say Jumbo —
which has no people and is not likely to for some time — contradicts common law principles of democracy and public interest. The society further asserts that “patchwork” amendments to the Local Government Act create “inconsistency and incoherence” to municipal legislation. “In the government’s rush to pave the way for the Jumbo Resort, they’ve deeply undermined the democratic process,” Reid said. The society is also claiming Continued on Page 4
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