Video: Mine spill in British Columbia to release toxic silt to nearby lake

A tailings pond at the Mount Polley gold and copper mine in central B.C. failed last month and released millions of cubic meters of waste water, triggering a state of emergency for the local community. An aerial footage taken from the affected area reveals the extent of the spill, while residents and experts express their fears about the long-term impact on the environment and local fish stocks. Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs stated that "Like the Exxon Valdez, Mount Polley will be synonymous with one of the most disastrous environmental events in British Columbia".

About 10 million cubic metres of water and 4.5 million cubic metres of silt, enough to fill 2,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools, were released into the Polley Lake, which in turn drains into Quesnel Lake in central Britich Columbia. The Mount Polley Mine tailings dam has been operated by Imperial Mines and the spill was reportedly the result of years of neglecting the facility. What is even more surprising is that the accident occurred only weeks after the mining company asked permission from provincial authorities to increase the amount of treated water it could release from the pond. At the time of the breach, authorities were considering Imperial Mine's request. 

As a result of the spill, use of tap water was temporarily banned, leading about 300 people to using bottled water, avoiding bathing with it or giving it to pets and livestock. Even though preliminary tests show the existence of metals to be within the official water guidelines, residents express their fears about the long term environmental and financial effects to the local community, which lives out of tourism, mining and fishing.

Tim Jardine, from the toxicology centre in the University of Saskatchewan's environment school, after examining the data, stated that arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead and mercury appeared to be well below water guidelines; however there could be other stuff in the sediment that they haven't yet tested. He also stated that water quality may not be the only potential impact from the spill. He stated that "the metals aren't going to have a major impact on the ecosystem, but it's more likely to be that landscape change that was incurred by a big wall of water moving downstream really fast".

Watch an aerial view of the area, taken only a few days after the spill in the video below: