TUESDAY JANUARY 27, 2015
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THE BULLETIN PROUDLY SERVING KIMBERLEY AND AREA SINCE 1932 | Vol. 83, Issue 17 | www.dailybulletin.ca
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Tailings ponds inspections find no safety concerns Teck completes review of Sullivan Mine tailings ponds ordered by Mining Inspector C AROLYN GR ANT Bulletin Editor
COURTESY KAR
It was absolutely beautiful skiing weather in Kimberley this past weekend, as these members of the Kimberley Dynamiters tearing down the Main can attest. Saturday was Ski with the Dynamiters Day at KAR.
Seniors facilities closed to public during RI outbreak C AROLYN GR ANT Bulletin Editor
There are currently 15 seniors facilities in the Interior Health region listed on the Active Outbreak list during this flu season. All 15 are closed to the public due to respiratory infection. They include the Kimberley Special Care Home (the Pines) which was listed on January 21 and the Joseph Creek Seniors Village in Cranbrook, which was listed on January 23. “It is standard practice around infection control,” said Karl Hardt, communications officer for Interior Health. “We ask people to stay away.” The Bulletin received an email stating that health care workers at the Pines who have not been immunized with flu vaccine have been suspended without pay. They number about 12 individuals. Staff shortages have now reached
critical levels, the email said. “The Influenza Control Program gives staff the choice to get the flu shot or wear a mask during flu season,” said Jeff Betker, residential services administrator. “This policy has now been in place three years. “When a Medical Health Officer declares an outbreak, as is currently the case at Kimberley Special Care Home (Pines), the Staff Influenza Immunization And Exclusion Policy comes into effect. During an outbreak, staff who have not had a flu shot can elect to take anviral medication (Tamiflu) and return to work or they wait until the outbreak is officially over before returning. Staff are not suspended, but are excluded from working at an outbreak site. This policy has been in place since
2003, and recognizes the risks to residents/ patients are much higher during an outbreak situation. “Other measures that we take during an outbreak include supporting residents who have symptoms with care in their rooms to avoid contact with other residents, increased housekeeping, and a request that family/ friends who have not had their flu shot limit visits until the outbreak is over. “To date, about a dozen Kimberley Special Care Home residents and five staff have had flu symptoms. Last new case was on Jan. 24. “I can assure people that residents at Kimberley Special Care Home are still receiving good care during this current outbreak. We have not had any critical staffing challenges.”
There are no immediate safety or stability concerns for any of the Sullivan Mine tailings storage facilities and accompanying dam structures in Kimberley, Teck has assured Mayor and Council in a recent letter. After the breach of the tailings dam at Mt. Polley Mine last August, B.C.’s Chief Inspector of Mines ordered all tailings facilities in the province to be inspected by December 1, 2014. Teck already conducts daily inspections of Kimberley’s tailings ponds, says Teck’s Bruce Donald, Manager Legacy Properties, in the letter, as well as formal monthly inspections. Dam safety inspections are performed yearly and Dam Safety Reviews are performed by third party engineers every five years. With the order from the Inspector of Mines, Teck accelerated their review schedule. The company has submitted a DSI which covers the 14 earthen dams and six tailings impoundments at the former Sullivan Mine site. Kimberley’s area of tailings impoundment is approximately 583 hectares, which includes both remediated land and tailings ponds, containing material left over from the mining and processing of ore. The impoundments include the:
Satellite photo of the Sullivan Mine tailings facilities in Kimberley.
Iron Pond, including iron dyke (active) ARD storage pond, including north and south dams (active) Sludge Pond, including north and south dykes (active) Gypsum Ponds, including East, West and Northeast Gypsum dykes and Recycle Pond (reclaimed, no longer water retaining) Old Iron Pond, including Southwest and Southeast Limbs (reclaimed, no longer water retaining) Siliceous Ponds, including the number 1, 2 and 3 Siliceous dykes (re-
claimed, no longer water retaining) Calcine Pond, including Calcine dyke (reclaimed, no longer water retaining) In addition to confirming no safety or stability concerns, the reports confirm that Teck is following industry practices for monitoring and surveillance practices. There were some recommendations, Donald wrote, but they were non-urgent, pertaining to routine maintenance, repair and monitoring. An independent study using “worst case scenario” dam failures
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for the Gypsum ponds, Iron Dyke and ARD ponds was conducted to ensure emergency response plans are comprehensive and thorough. All these reports have been submitted to government and should be publicly available in early February. In the meantime, Donald has offered Mayor and Council a briefing should they have any questions about the operations, maintenance and monitoring of Kimberley’s tailings facilities.