Winnipeg Free Press - January 29, 2012

The Vancouver Sun - November 8, 2011

Tuesday’s federal government decision to deny Taseko Mines Ltd.’s application to build the Prosperity copper-gold mine southwest of Williams Lake will save Fish Lake, but cast a cloud over future mining investment in British Columbia, according to a mining organization.

Photograph by: Submitted, Vancouver Sun

Environment Minister Peter Kent triggered a chorus of criticism Monday by ordering a new environmental review of Taseko Mines Ltd’s $1.5-billion “New Prosperity” gold and copper mine in the province’s Central Interior.

“Our government always balances environmental concerns with Canadians’ top priority - jobs and the economy,” Kent said in a statement.

“This environmental assessment will look at new aspects of the proposal while incorporating the analysis from the previous process.”

Kent, with his authority under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, directed the CEAA to establish a panel to review Taseko’s revised proposal.

A year ago, the CEAA ruled that the company’s initial mine proposal would have adversely impacted the environment and native land claims in the region.

Kent has given CEAA a year to complete the process, which will include public hearings.

The panel “will thoroughly assess whether the proposal addresses the environmental effects identified in the environmental assessment of the original Prosperity project,” the agency said in a news release.

The Harper government accepted last year a CEAA panel review which turned down Taseko’s proposal to drain the trout-rich Fish Lake, about 125 kilometres southwest of Williams Lake, in order to use it as a tailings storage area.

The company has come back with a proposal to spend an additional $300 million to build a tailings facility two kilometres upstream from Fish Lake, though critics say it’s essentially the same proposal that was considered unacceptable by both the company and the panel.

Brian Battison, Taseko’s vice president of corporate affairs welcomed Monday’s decision on the project’s revised design.

“We would characterize it as a positive step forward,” Battison said in an interview, “and we hope and anticipate that it will lead to the ultimate federal approval that we seek.”

And while Kent’s order drew immediate denunciations by the New Democratic Party, native groups and environmental organizations, Battison said the mine proposal enjoys broad support within communities in the region.

“You don’t hear a lot about the people who want the project or are in favour of the project,” he added.

The provincial NDP said pushing through a mining project over the objections of first nations “will create an atmosphere of distrust and conflict” that will increase uncertainty in the province.

“If we want to do business on the land base we need to build a strong relationship of trust and partnership with first nations,” said NDP mining critic Doug Donaldson.

Federal NDP fisheries critic Fin Donnelly said the new panel is a waste of time and tax dollars.

The Tsilhqot’in First Nation issued a statement expressi n g ” a n g e r , f r u s t r a t i o n , bewilderment and disappointment,” though the release also expressed some relief that a full panel process is being created to ensure public input.

“At least the minister of the environment recognizes these must be addressed through a public review panel that ensures full transparency and accountability,” said Tsilhqot’in National Government Tribal Chair Chief Joe Alphonse.

The original proposal would have drained Fish Lake, which according to the Sierra Club of B.C. is home to an estimated 80,000 rainbow trout and was once featured on a B.C. tourism brochure.

But the Sierra Club said the new proposal will surround the lake with an open pit mine, rendering the area unusable for up to 33 years.

“This repackaged proposal would be even more environmentally destructive than the original proposal, according to Taseko’s own statements,” said Sierra Club BC Executive Director George Heyman.

“There is something seriously wrong with our assessment process when a company like Taseko can simply re-submit a mining proposal after it has been soundly rejected.”

Marilyn Baptiste, chief of the Xeni Gwet’in band of the Tsilhqot’in First Nation, said Monday she believes politics influenced the decision.

Both Prime Minister Stephen Harper and B.C. Premier Christy Clark have promoted mining as a way for Canada to defy the global economic downdraft.

Taseko’s lobbyists have met with senior federal officials to stress the benefits outlined in a company report arguing that the mine would generate 71,000 jobs and increase federal and B.C. government tax revenues by almost $10 billion between the 2013 construction launch to its 2036 mine closure.

And company officials say Taseko will take steps to mitigate the risk posed by the newly-located tailings pond, to be located about two kilometres upstream from Fish Lake.

Critics have cited testimony from the CEAA hearings last March that included Battison’s declaration that the original proposal to drain Fish Lake, which was ultimately rejected by the agency, was the only possible option.

“Developing Prosperity means draining Fish Lake. We wish it were otherwise,” Battison told the panel hearing in 2010.

“We searched hard for a different way, a way to retain the lake and have the mine. But there is no viable alternative. The lake and the deposit sit side by side. It is not possible to have one without the loss of the other.”

They also cite the CEAA report which said the panel agrees with observations by both the company and Environment Canada that the option to have the tailings pond upstream from Fish Lake “would result in greater long-term environmental risk than the preferred alternative.”

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/year+review+Prosperity+project+ordered/5673370/story.html#ixzz1diiLmBAh

The Vancouver Sun - November 7, 2011

Fish Lake is the site of the proposed Prosperity Mine, which is now facing a second round of federal environmental assessments.

Photograph by: External, External

The federal government has agreed to establish a panel to study a new proposal by a B.C. mining company to launch a controversial mining project in the province’s central interior.

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency panel will consider the environmental implications of Taseko Mines Ltd.’s $1.5 billion “New Prosperity” gold and copper mine near Williams Lake.

An official with one of the first nations opposed to Taseko’s bid confirmed Monday that it had been advised that Environment Minister Peter Kent supported a new panel inquiry.

The Harper government accepted last year a CEAA panel review which turned down Taseko’s proposal to drain the trout-rich Fish Lake in order to use it as a tailings storage area.

The company has come back with a proposal to spend $300 million to build a tailings facility two kilometres upstream from Fish Lake.

The New Democratic Party denounced Monday’s decision.

“We already had a clear decision from Cabinet on this project. A new assessment process is a waste of time and taxpayer dollars,” said fisheries critic Fin Donnelly (New Westminster-Coquitlam and Port Moody).

“The previous environmental assessment clearly indicated this project would have major impacts on the environment and local First Nations. Companies should not be able to dodge comprehensive Environmental Assessments by resubmitting their project for a less stringent review.”

First nations groups are also expected to be infuriated with the decision.

Taseko’s lobbyists have met with senior federal officials to stress the benefits in a company report arguing that the mine would generate 71,000 jobs and increase federal and B.C. government tax revenues by almost $10 billion between the 2013 construction launch to its 2036 mine closure.

And company officials say Taseko will take steps to mitigage the risk that the newly-located tailings pond would pose for Fish Lake.

Both Prime Minister Stephen Harper and B.C. Premier Christy Clark have promoted mining as a way for Canada to defy the global economic downdraft.

But aboriginal and environmental groups have argued that Taseko is effectively re-submitting a proposal that was considered and rejected by both the company and the CEAA a year ago, in part because it would have had worse environmental long-term consequences than the proposal to drain Fish Lake.

“There are many other, more-worthy mining projects to be considered — the vast majority of which, if not all, will require working with aboriginal communities,” stated Marilyn Baptiste in a commentary published last week in The Northern Miner.

“We’ve shown here why New Prosperity cannot get federal approval. The question is, will it be rejected on Nov. 7 when the CEAA announces the next steps, or will it first have to go through a pointless, costly and divisive new review?” asked Baptiste, the chief of the Xeni Gwet’in band of the Tsilhqot’in First Nation.

Critics have cited testimony from the CEAA hearings last March that included Battison’s declaration that the original proposal to drain Fish Lake, which was ultimately rejected by the agency, was the only possible option.

“Developing Prosperity means draining Fish Lake. We wish it were otherwise,” he said.

“We searched hard for a different way, a way to retain the lake and have the mine. But there is no viable altnerative. The lake and the deposit sit side by side. It is not possible to have one without the loss of the other.”

They also cite the CEAA report which said the panel agrees with observations by both the company and Environment Canada that the option to have the tailings pond upstream from Fish Lake “would result in greater long-term environmental risk than the preferred alternative.”

Read more: http://www.canada.com/news/Feds+agree+panel+study+Taseko+Mine+proposal/5671177/story.html#ixzz1dGb5ZWbh

Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Government of Canada

Premier Christy Clark
Province of British Columbia

Dear Prime Minister Harper and Premier Clark:

Re: UBCIC Support for Tsilhqot’in Nation and Call for Rejection of the “New Prosperity” Mine

We are writing with respect to Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) Resolution 2011-35, “UBCIC Support for Tsilhqot’in Nation and Call for Rejection of the “New Prosperity” Mine” which was presented, affirmed and passed by consensus at the UBCIC’s 43rd Annual General Assembly on September 15, 2011.

Accordingly, the UBCIC Executive, on behalf of the UBCIC Chiefs-in-Assembly, call upon the Federal and Provincial Governments to heed the advice and findings of the original independent Panel, demonstrate commitment to environmental protection and the cultural survival of First Nations and deem the New Prosperity Gold-Copper Mine proposal not worthy of environmental review or approval.

To proceed with a review of the proposed New Prosperity Gold-Copper Mine, despite the clear warnings of the independent Panel and the clear objection of the Tsilhqot’in Nation, would demonstrate utter disregard for First Nations as distinctive cultures within Canada and Canada’s commitment to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

In closing, the UBCIC fully supports the efforts of the Tsilhqot’in Nation to protect their lands of profound cultural and spiritual value to its people from the proposed New Prosperity Gold-Copper Mine and will stand with the Tsilhqot’in Nation in defense of their lands.

On behalf of the UNION OF BC INDIAN CHIEFS

[Original Signed]

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip
President

Chief Robert Chamberlin
Vice-President

Chief Marilyn Baptiste
Secretary-Treasurer


CC: Federal Members of Parliament
BC Members of the Legislative Assembly
Assembly of First Nations


Encl. UBCIC Resolution 2011-35, “UBCIC Support for Tsilhqot’in Nation and Call for Rejection of the “New Prosperity” Mine”

________________________________________




UNION OF B.C. INDIAN CHIEFS
43RD ANNUAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY
SEPTEMBER 14TH – SEPTEMBER 16TH, 2011 
WHISTLER, B.C.

Resolution no. 2011-35 

RE: UBCIC Support for Tsilhqot’in Nation and Call for Rejection of the “New Prosperity” Mine

WHEREAS the Tsilhqot’in Nation, with the support of the Assembly of First Nations, Union of BC Indian Chiefs, and First Nations Summit, successfully defended their Aboriginal Title, Rights and the integrity of their lands and waters threatened by the Prosperity Gold-Copper Mine (the “Project”), which sought to completely destroy Teztan Biny (Fish Lake) and Nabas areas;

WHEREAS entire communities of the Tsilhqot’in people attended the public hearings held by the federal panel (the “Panel”) conducting the environmental assessment of the Project, and Tsilhqot’in members from as young as 7 to as old as 90 explained the cultural and spiritual importance of these lands and waters to the Panel;

WHEREAS the independent Panel concluded that “the Project would result in significant adverse environmental effects on fish and fish habitat, on navigation, on the current use of lands and resources for traditional purposes by First Nations and on cultural heritage, and on certain potential or established Aboriginal rights or title” and on threatened grizzly bears and grizzly bear habitat;

WHEREAS the Panel specifically concluded that the mine would permanently destroy lands and waters described as an “important and spiritual area” for the Tsilhqot’in people, and warned that “the loss of the Teztan Biny (Fish Lake) and Nabas areas for current use activities, ceremonies, teaching, and cultural and spiritual practices would be irreversible, of high magnitude and have a long-term effect on the Tsilhqot’in” and these “impacts on the physical and mental health of the Tsilhqot’in communities would be long term”;

WHEREAS the Panel noted that even the alternative Project proposals considered by the company, which might preserve the integrity of Teztan Biny (Fish Lake), would also have significant adverse impacts, and that “the proximity of the open pit and associated mining facilities would be close enough to Teztan Biny (Fish Lake) to eliminate the intrinsic value of the area to First Nations even if another alternative were chosen”;

WHEREAS the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs has provided unwavering support to the Tsilhqot’in Nation throughout the process, as mandated by UBCIC Resolution 2010-32, including written submissions and presentations by Grand Chief Stewart Phillip before the Federal Review Panel, which called upon the Federal Government to reject the proposed Prosperity Gold-Copper;

WHEREAS the Government of Canada has recognized the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which identifies the Aboriginal right to free, prior and informed consent regarding all development on traditional lands;

WHEREAS in November 2010, the Government of Canada made the only responsible decision available to it, and rejected the Project based upon the Panel’s assessment that Minister of Environment Jim Prentice described as “scathing” and “probably the most condemning report that I’ve seen”;

WHEREAS since the November 2010 decision, without the consent or support of the Tsilhqot’in Nation, the proponent has twice submitted one of its alternative proposals to the Federal government. The revised proposal was previously identified by both the proponent and the Panel as an unviable option, in part because it would be even more environmentally damaging.

WHEREAS the alternative proposal would still completely destroy the Nabas area, Little Fish Lake, Fish Creek, and surround Teztan Biny with a 2 km wide open pit, a massive tailings pond and other mine works, and would still threaten the integrity of Teztan Biny;

WHEREAS the Tsilhqot’in Nation view the latest revised proposal as equally or more destructive than the first, and one which does not address the severe environmental and cultural impacts identified by the independent Panel;

WHEREAS the Tsilhqot’in Nation view the willingness of the company to proceed to another review and to build a mine without the consent of the Tsilhqot’in Nation as an indication that it does not respect Aboriginal Title and Rights.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED the UBCIC Chiefs-in-Assembly fully support the efforts of the Tsilhqot’in Nation to protect their lands of profound cultural and spiritual value to its people from the proposed New Prosperity Gold-Copper Mine, and will stand behind the Tsilhqot’in Nation in defense of these lands regardless of whether the Federal and Provincial governments deem the new proposal worthy of review or approval;

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the UBCIC Chiefs-in-Assembly call upon the Federal and Provincial Governments to heed the cautions of the independent Panel, demonstrate commitment to environmental protection and the cultural survival of First Nations, and deem the New Prosperity Gold-Copper Mine proposal not worthy of environmental review or approval;

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the UBCIC Chiefs-in-Assembly advise the Federal and Provincial Governments that First Nations across Canada are watching their decisions to see whether there remains any value or integrity in environmental assessments for major projects, or whether First Nations must turn to litigation and other means to assert our rights and protect our cultures;

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the UBCIC Chiefs-in-Assembly caution the Federal and Provincial Governments, that proceeding with a review of the proposed New Prosperity Gold-Copper Mine, despite the clear warnings of the independent Panel and the clear objection of the Tsilhqot’in Nation, would demonstrate utter disregard for the survival of First Nations as distinctive cultures within Canada and its commitment to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples;

THEREFORE BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED the UBCIC Chiefs-in-Assembly direct the UBCIC Executive and staff to continue advocating on behalf of the Tsilhqot’in Nation, and to communicate the clear support of the UBCIC Chiefs-in-Assembly for the Tsilhqot’in Nation and for the rejection of the new Prosperity Gold-Copper Mine to the Federal and Provincial governments.

Moved: Chief Francis Laceese, Toosey Indian Band
Seconded: Chief Marilyn Baptiste, Xeni Gwet’in First Nation
Disposition: Carried
Date: September 15th, 2011

http://www.ubcic.bc.ca/print/News_Releases/UBCICNews10191101.htm

The Vancouver Sun - October 19, 2011

OTTAWA — British Columbia aboriginal leaders and environmental groups moved Wednesday to counteract an aggressive lobbying campaign by a mining company to get the federal government to consider its new bid to open a copper-gold mine in the province’s interior.

Their effort coincided this week with Taseko Mines Ltd. releasing a report that says the $1.5-billion New Prosperity mine would create 71,000 jobs and increase federal and B.C. government tax revenues by almost $10 billion between the 2013 construction launch and the projected 2036 mine closure.

It also comes as both Prime Minister Stephen Harper and B.C. Premier Christy Clark have promoted mining as a way for Canada to defy the global economic troubles.

The Harper government accepted last year a Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency review which rejected Taseko’s plan to drain Fish Lake for a tailings storage area.

The company has come back with a proposal to spend $300 million to build a tailings facility two kilometres upstream from Fish Lake, in an area about 125 kilometres southwest of Williams Lake.

“The company is on record admitting this new option is worse than the one that was rejected last year, and a CEAA review panel has already agreed with that assessment,” native leader Joe Alphonse told a news conference Wednesday on Parliament Hill.

“To proceed any further will place an unjustified burden on us and on taxpayers and will demonstrate the excessive influence that this company, its lobbyists and hired guns have on government,” said Alphonse, chair of the Tsilhqot’in National Government, which represents six First Nations in the area.

A coalition of 11 B.C. environmental groups also issued a statement Wednesday denouncing the project.

The CEAA is expected to decide early next month whether to conduct a comprehensive study or a review of the new proposal, said spokeswoman Annie Roy.

Alphonse was referring to the 2010 CEAA panel report which said it agreed “with the observations made by Taseko and Environment Canada” that the proposal to locate the tailings facility upstream from Fish Lake “would result in greater long-term environmental risk than the preferred alternative.”

Brian Battison, Taseko’s vice-president of corporate affairs, told The Vancouver Sun that the company believes it can convince the federal government that it has an adequate plan to mitigate the risks of having the tailings pond two kilometres upstream from Fish Lake.

Critics have drawn attention to Taseko’s heavy use of lobbyists to push its case. Phil Von Finckenstein, a well-connected lobbyist in Tory circles who once worked as Reform leader Preston Manning’s press aide, is a registered Taseko lobbyist who has met with senior officials in Harper’s office as well as CEAA, Natural Resources Canada and Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, according to federal Lobbying Commissioner Karen Shepherd’s registry.

Von Finckenstein’s efforts include meetings with Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver and Timothy Sargent, assistant secretary to the cabinet in the Privy Council Office (the bureaucratic arm of the government that directly advises Harper).

His lobbying involves seeking “timely approval of a proposed mining project” in B.C. as well as explaining the “economic value” of the project, according to the registry.

Taseko’s other hired gun is former senior bureaucrat Bruce Rawson, one-time deputy minister of fisheries and oceans Canada.

Rawson has had 31 meetings with high-level Harper government officials, both at the bureaucratic and political levels, regarding Taseko since mid-2008.

“We’re making every effort to provide the facts to people so they have a clear understanding of what the facts are, and not the rumour and not the innuendo,” Battison said.

“So it’s a communication effort we’re making to get everybody to understand the value and benefits of this project.”

One environmental group, West Coast Environmental Law (WCEL), has drawn attention to the recent hiring of Jason Quigley, a former official at the CEAA, by Hunter Dickinson Services Inc.

HDSI shares the same Vancouver address as Taseko and is, according to a recent Taseko filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, a company “which has certain directors in common” with Taseko and “carries out geological, engineering, corporate development, administrative, financial management, investor relations, and other management activities” for Taseko.

Quigley is described on the HDSI website as someone with “more than 17 years experience as a consultant and senior executive, specializing in regulatory permitting, sustainability, fisheries and public consultation on large mining, energy and infrastructure projects. Currently, he provides regulatory and Corporate Social Responsibility expertise in support of HDSI interests.”

Battison told The Vancouver Sun that Quigley has had no involvement in the New Prosperity project. Another Taseko executive wrote to WCEL earlier this week noting that Quigley and the CEAA “discussed and agreed on the post-employment restrictions” he’d have to follow after joining HDSI.

Read more: http://www.canada.com/technology/Opposition+attempts+counter+lobbying+campaign+mine/5576440/story.html#ixzz1bSKLvXoA

The Williams Lake Tribune - August 30, 2011

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency has accepted the project description of Taseko’s New Prosperity mine, completing another step in the process that will eventually determine whether the new mine project will come to fruition.

The acceptance means the agency is now committed to starting an environmental assessment of the project on or before Nov. 7.

“We’re pleased,” said Brian Battison, Taseko’s vice president of corporate affairs. “We were expecting that they would accept our project description.”

According to Battison, the CEAA will now make the determination on what type of review the project requires.  The company expects the agency to proceed with a comprehensive study.

The CEAA website notes a comprehensive study can be used for “large projects having the potential for significant adverse environmental effects.” The projects “may also generate public concerns.”

The former Prosperity mine project rejected late last year was subject to a review panel.

Tsilhqot’in National Government tribal chair Joe Alphonse called on the government to halt the project. Alphonse and Xeni Gwet’in chief Marilyn Baptiste asked that Prime Minister Stephen Harper stand by the leadership shown last year when the former project was rejected, showing that while mining is important, it cannot be supported at any cost.

“If the Canadian government wants to reduce its deficit, then cancel this process,” Alphonse says. “It will prevent the frivolous spending of tax money consistently being wasted to review a mine that will not go through.”

Baptiste added: “The Tsilhqot’in Nation is concerned that proceeding further with this rebid will detract from efforts to pursue more sustainable developments in the region, the sustainable developments that B.C. Mines Minister Rich Coleman earlier this year said was his new priority.”

Following the November deadline and the choice of review stream for the project, Battison says a decision could be expected within 365 days. The project description and executive summary can be viewed at www.newprosperityproject.ca

http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_cariboo/williamslaketribune/news/128622968.html

WILLIAMS LAKE, BC, Aug. 26, 2011 /CNW/ - The Tsilhqot’in National Government today called on the Federal government to halt the continuous drain on everyone’s time and resources and to reject Taseko Mines Ltd’s (TML) second rebid for the Prosperity Mine project.

“If the Canadian government wants to reduce its deficit, then cancel this process.  It will prevent the frivolous spending of tax money consistently being wasted to review a mine that will not go through,” said TNG Tribal Chair Chief Joe Alphonse. “Today’s announcement by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency merely finds that the company has finally completed their project description up to the point where a next step could be considered. The fact remains that this bid, which was presented to the previous Expert Panel and deemed worse than the original plan, fails to address any of the environmentally scathing issues that led to the first proposal being rejected,”

“Surrounding our sacred lake with an open pit mine, preventing access to it for 33 or more years, destroying its fish spawning grounds and most likely destroying the lake later as it receives toxic tailings or the mine expands is clearly not an improvement,” said Marilyn Baptiste, Chief, Xeni Gwet’in.

Chief Alphonse and Chief Baptiste ask Prime Minister Stephen Harper to honourably stand by the leadership his government demonstrated in November last year when it emphatically rejected  the original mine proposal and showed that while mining is important, it cannot be supported at any cost. The Chiefs noted that the rebid option now before the CEAA is one that the company itself declared last year would be worse for the environment than the original plan - a point echoed in the CEAA review panel report, which then Environment Minister Jim Prentice called “scathing” and  “probably the most condemning” he had ever read.

The only major change is that instead of killing Teztan Biny outright, it would render it inaccessible, destroy the smaller adjacent lake that is essential to its self contained wild trout ecosystem, and leave open the option of killing the lake later during the proposed extended 33-year lifetime of the mine. The plan does not address the impact on endangered grizzly-bear and their habitat and in no way removes the irreversible damage to current and future First Nations title and rights, including archaeological and cultural sites.

“At this very moment the Tsilhqot’in are in the middle of the salmon season, blessed with the Chilko salmon run - one of North America’s strongest remaining runs,” said Chief Alphonse. “We cannot imagine risking this irreplaceable resource, which would be threatened by the toxic mine discharge.  Everyone from commercial fishermen to the Cohen Commission should be standing with us to protect this resource.”

The Tsilhqot’in Nation is concerned that proceeding further with this rebid will detract from efforts to pursue more sustainable developments in the region, the sustainable developments that BC Mines Minister Rich Coleman earlier this year said was his new priority.  Chief Baptiste noted: “The company has not cleaned up the mess it made when drilling and testing for its original bid and we do not support even more damage while this is a clearly pointless rebid.”

There is solid, national opposition to this project from First Nations along with people from all walks of life. The Assembly of First Nations Chiefs in Assembly last month passed its second resolution renewing its 2010 pledge to help defend Tsilhqot’in lands against this project and cautioning the federal government against approving this project. “It would be irresponsible if Mr. Harper’s government did not appropriately consider the environment and its constitutional and international obligations to safeguard First Nations rights,” said Chief Baptiste.

For further information:

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/August2011/26/c6641.html

Sierra Club BC - November 2, 2010 - News Release

Decision Highlights Serious Flaws in B.C. Environmental Assessment Process

• Sarah Cox (250) 812-1762 | sarah@sierraclub.bc.ca
• George Heyman (604) 312-6595 |

Victoria, BC Nov 02, 2010

Today’s cabinet decision to protect Fish Lake from a controversial open-pit mine is a crucial step to shoring up public confidence in the federal environmental assessment process, Sierra Club BC Executive Director George Heyman said today.

“This is the only decision that the federal cabinet could make without leaving the Canadian environmental assessment process meaningless and without credibility,” said Heyman. “Now we must close the legislative loophole that allows destruction of Canada’s freshwater bodies for toxic mine tailings, and ensure the intent of our Fisheries Act is no longer undermined.”

Following staunch opposition from First Nations and more than a dozen environmental groups, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his cabinet today rejected Taseko Mines Ltd.’s “Prosperity” mine. Taseko planned to drain Fish Lake in central B.C. in order to access a gold and copper deposit and make room for a waste rock dump and toxic tailings.

“Today’s decision illustrates why devolving environmental assessment to B.C. to ‘streamline’ the process would be a disaster,” said Heyman. “B.C. gave the green light to this project, putting short-term economic interests ahead of species, ecosystems and First Nations rights.”

In June, the B.C. government issued a 25-year-mining lease to Taseko, following a provincial environmental assessment which failed to consider all the potential impacts identified by the federal process. The following month, a federal environmental review panel reported that Taseko’s proposed mine would have significant adverse effects on the environment — including to fish stocks and grizzly populations— and on First Nations rights and title. The panel concluded that damage from the mine would be “high magnitude, long-term and irreversible”.   

The proposed “Prosperity” open-pit mine is on the traditional lands of the Xeni Gwet’in First Nation, a member of the Tsilhqot’in National Government, which won a court case recognizing its rights to the area.

“It boggles my mind that the B.C. government would have even considered destroying a huge, well-stocked fishing lake that is of great significance to an indigenous community, and is surrounded by cultural sites including First Nations burial grounds,” said Heyman. “Today’s decision points to serious flaws in the B.C. environmental assessment process.”

Changes to the federal Fisheries Act allow metal mining corporations to use Canadian lakes to dispose of the millions of tonnes of toxic waste rock and tailings they generate.  Fish Lake would have been Canada’s fifth pristine natural water body authorized for destruction under this loophole, which was originally introduced solely to allow mines already approved and in existence to complete their economic life cycle. 

Sierra Club BC has actively supported the Tsilhqot’in National Government’s opposition to the mine and has urged Prime Minister Harper to save Fish Lake. 

-30-

Contact:

George Heyman, Executive Director, Sierra Club BC: (604) 312-6595

Sarah Cox, Communications Director, Sierra Club BC: (250) 812-1762

http://www.sierraclub.bc.ca/quick-links/media-centre/media-releases/fish-lake-decision-welcomed-by-sierra-club-bc