Issues & Community Blog - Andrew Weaver: A Climate for Hope - Page 183

Media Statement – August 31st 2014

Andrew Weaver Calls on BCTF and Government to Agree to Binding Arbitration

For Immediate Release

Victoria B.C. – Andrew Weaver, the MLA for Oak Bay – Gordon Head is calling on the British Columbia Teachers Federation, the British Columbia Public School Employer’s Association and the Provincial Government to immediately agree to binding arbitration to resolve the ongoing contract dispute, and to suspend the strike and lockout.

The departure of mediator Vince Ready from the talks this weekend portends to more than the first few weeks of September without classes for the over 550 000 students enrolled in public schools, their 41 000 teachers, and the thousands of support staff who were due to begin the school year this week.

The government has stated it will not recall the legislature early or introduce back to work legislation when MLAs return for the fall session in October. A framework to continue bargaining has not been established and no talks are scheduled leaving teachers, students and parents with little hope for an early resolution.

“The signs are clear that this dispute could stretch for months which will severely disrupt the lives of students, their parents and teachers, as well as their school support staff. I have been inundated with calls and emails from educators and parents desperate for a solution as the realization is hitting home a good part of the school year could be lost.” said Andrew Weaver. “There is a path forward, there is way to get classes started, and that is with the BCTF and government agreeing on binding arbitration and an immediate suspension of the strike. It takes leadership and resolve to do what is in everyone’s best interest.”

Media contact
Mat Wright – Press Secretary, Andrew Weaver MLA
1 250 216 3382
mat.wright@leg.bc.ca

Today I had the honour of attending and speaking at the Protect Public Education Now (PPEN) rally at the BC Legislature at 2PM. A petition of more than 11,000 signatures calling on the government to “Negotiate with teachers to protect public education” was presented by PPEN spokesperson Jordan Watters and grade 8 student Julia Pante to NDP MLA and Education Critic Rob Fleming. Rob will be passing along the petition to the Premier’s office.

A box containing thirty apples, representing a typical class size in British Columbia, was presented to NDP MLA Jenny Kwan. Twenty six of these apples were red and four were green. The green ones signified that in  2013-2014, 16,163 out of a total of 68,020 classes (24%) in British Columbia public schools contained four or more students with Individual Education Plans (IEPs). This is a 57% increase from 2007. Jenny will also be delivering the apples to the Premier’s office.

I was presented with a sapling apple tree that my office will nurture until such time as the government and the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation reach an agreement. Everyone hopes that such an agreement will reflect an adequate investment in public education and if so, the sapling will be ceremoniously planted so that it can bear fruit for generations to come.

Thank you to all who attended and especially to Marlene Rodgers and Jordan Watters for putting the event together.

This post is part of an ongoing series in which MLA Andrew Weaver will be sharing key information from inside the National Energy Board hearings on Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline proposal.

Many British Columbians are concerned about the risk of an oil spill on our coast.

That’s why my team and I went through the oil spill risk analysis provided in Kinder Morgan’s application. We wanted to see if the evidence Kinder Morgan offered gave British Columbians an honest take on the risks of this project.

There are a lot of sections to Kinder Morgan’s risk analysis—some are done quite well, others are deeply concerning. I will write more about these over the coming months.

Today, I would like to look at one report in particular. It offers a good example of the concerning way in which Kinder Morgan is approaching the review process.

Casualty Data Survey

As a part of its application, Kinder Morgan submitted a report done by Det Norske Veritas (DNV) titled a “Casualty Data Survey”. The report looked at the frequency of incidents involving oil tankers and compared the results to other types of vessels, such as chemical tankers and bulk carriers. Overall, the report is quite informative and gives a good sense of the frequency of incidents, including spills.

What is concerning is not the report itself, but the highly questionable conclusions that Kinder Morgan draws from the report. Let me offer an example:

In its pipeline application, Kinder Morgan makes the claim that “based on the available data, DNV shows that worldwide incident frequency involving oil tankers is among the lowest of all marine vessels for the period 2002 to 2011…”

I thought this was important, so I decided to ask about it.

Questioning the Claim

First of all, I found this claim interesting, since DNV only appeared to compare oil tankers with three other types of vessels: LNG-LPG Tankers, Chemical Tankers and Bulk Carriers.

I asked what data was theoretically available for comparison. It turns out that data was available for 19 different types of vessels. Kinder Morgan chose to only compare four types (including oil tankers) because it felt they provided the best basis for comparison.

That could be a fair judgment to make. But when they have only compared 4 of the 19 vessels types, they cannot then make the assertion that they have compared oil tankers to “all marine vessels”.

What makes it worse is that oil tankers don’t actually have the lowest number of incidents when compared to the other three vessel types. Oil tankers have the second highest frequency of “total loss” incidents (damaged beyond repair) and the third highest rate of “serious incidents”.

I asked Kinder Morgan to justify their claim in light of this evidence. In their response, they reiterated that their conclusion is “accurate”, but failed to address the contradictory evidence.

 My Concern

Ultimately there is a bigger issue here than simply how an oil tanker compares to other marine vessels.

My concern is that this example is indicative of a trend we are seeing from Kinder Morgan.  The company has made claims that are unsubstantiated by the information it provides in its application. When intervenors ask about these claims, Kinder Morgan avoids the question or refuses to give a clear answer.

An effective review process is predicated on openness and honesty. I am concerned that we are not seeing enough of either from Kinder Morgan.

VICTORIA, B.C. – In light of the tragic industrial disaster at Mount Polley Mine south of Quesnel, the B.C. Green Party is calling on the provincial government to require every mine in the province to undertake an independent engineering report of their tailings storage facilities.

“The B.C. government has the legislative ability to require these engineering reports be submitted” said Andrew Weaver Oak Bay-Gordon Head MLA, and Deputy Leader of the B.C. Green Party. “Furthermore the BC government has the responsibility to ensure that other tailings ponds are not at risk of failure. By analyzing those facilities and publishing the results, they will go a long way towards reassuring British Columbians that their government is looking out for their best interests.”

As the effort to address the immediate needs of the community and the environment in the area around the Mount Polley Tailings Pond disaster continues, the government must also turn their attention to other communities across British Columbia who may be facing similar risks.

“I spoke with First Nations leaders in this territory. I learned of their frustration due to the lack of communication by the government and operator, they are not getting any information,” said Adam Olsen, Leader of the B.C. Green Party. “They are very concerned about this situation and shared the fear that this will not be the only disaster.”

“This has been a wake up call for us all,” said Weaver. “The Minister admitted this accident should not have happened and it goes without saying we need a comprehensive assessment of our situation.”

Section 18 of the BC Mines Act empowers the government to order a mine operator to provide an independent study prepared by an engineer respecting the health and safety of its “equipment, buildings workings or structures…”.

“The provincial government should start with the Gibraltar mine just north of WIlliams Lake,” said Olsen. “People are really concerned with a toxic mining slurry making its way to the Fraser River, and so they should be, as it has the potential to shut down one of the largest sockeye runs in the world – forever. We could all rest a little easier knowing that facility is sound.”

Mount Polley Tailings Pond Breach

Looking at the pictures in the news this week of the environmental disaster that took place in central BC takes your breath away. I felt it was important to write a detailed review of what we know now and what questions need to be asked going forward. I will provide as much information I can as things develop.

In the early morning of  Monday, August 4^th 2014, a 4km long tailings pond located at the Mount Polley gold and copper mine (located in central British Columbia) breached its earthen dam, and left a 45-metre wide track of muck running into the nearby lake near Likely, BC. The mine and tailings pond is owned and operated by Imperial Metals Corporation. In a press release on August 5^th 2014, the company said the cause of the breach is unknown at this time, and the structure (which was independently built) was operated within the parameters given to the company, as regulated by the Ministry of Energy and Mines.

A state of emergency was declared for the Cariboo region in the morning of August 6^th.

The breach released ~10 billion litres of water and 4.5 million cubic metres of silt into Polley Lake prompting drinking water warnings for Quesnel Lake, Polley Lake, Hazeltine Creek, Cariboo Creek and the Quesnel River up to its intersection with the Fraser River.

In an FAQ on tailings pond, CBC says that:

“The substances found in tailings ponds depend on the type of mining operation. Last year, Imperial Metals Corp. reported that tailings from its Mount Polley copper-gold mine contained thousands of tonnes of copper, zinc, phosphorus and managanese along with:

• 138 tonnes of cobalt, 71 tonnes of nickel, 3.6 tonnes of antimony, 84,831 kilograms of arsenic, 38,218 kilograms of lead, 8,695 kilograms of selenium, 562 kilograms of mercury, 995 kilograms of cadmium.”

A science and policy advisor for the David Suzuki Foundation says that the most hazardous heavy metals to human and environmental health are arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead and mercury.

The breach appeared to catch the president of Imperial Metals by surprise, as he denied any indication that the dam would burst. In a town hall, Brian Kynoch said “if you asked me two weeks ago if it could happen, I would have said it couldn’t.”

However, this dam has been the subject of at least one review commissioned by the Williams Lake First Nation and Imperial Metals in 2009 and published in 2011. In the report, Brian Olding, operator of Brian Olding and Associates Ltd. (the environmental consultant that was retained for the report), said the tailings pond was accumulating water so quickly that it would have needed to discharge about 1.4 million cubic metres of water a year to keep its levels stable. This would require the dam to find a sustainable means of discharging water to prevent excessive build up. Oldings assessment found the pond levels were already getting too high five years ago.

In 2012, the government granted the permit amendment that Imperial Mines had requested, allowing it to discharge 1.4 million cubic meters of wastewater per year into Hazeltine Creek. The second permit amendment, submitted this summer, was under consideration by the ministry at the time of the tailings pond breach.

The report was also critical of the company for not having a contingency plan in case of a tailings pond failure. I do not know whether such a plan was developed in the period between the report being submitted to the company and government, and the accident on Monday. It is also worth noting that Olding says no analysis of the dam’s structural integrity was conducted, despite his request that a structural engineering company be retained.

An initial CBC investigation into the accident also provided a detailed review of the BC Government’s interactions with the Mount. Polley Mine.

In the article, the BC Ministry of Environment claims that they warned Imperial Metals about the Mount Polley mine tailings pond levels repeatedly before the breach.

In an email to CBC News, a Ministry of Environment spokesperson said it gave the firm its latest of five warnings in May, this time for exceeding the permitted height of wastewater within the tailings pond. However these warnings may have been given over the course of many years, referring to different incidences and violations.

The first of these, in 2009, prompted the independent report referred to above.

The CBC article went on to report that the B.C. Ministry of Environment reported conducting 14 inspections of the Mount Polley mine since the permit amendment was granted. On one of these inspections, that took place in August 2012, the ministry found the mine failed to report the excessive height of wastewater for the perimeter pond. The pond subsequently overflowed, releasing ~150 cubic meters of wastewater over 13 hours.

In April of this year, the ministry found the mine experienced high flows due to spring runoff, which blocked the pump system, resulting in an overflow, for which an advisory was issued. In this case the water did not reach the creek.

Finally, three months ago the ministry warned Imperial Metals yet again, after the height of wastewater in the tailings pond exceeded authorized levels.

According to the ministry, the wastewater level eventually returned to normal one month later.

In summer 2014, the firm applied to amend its permit again, this time to allow a discharge of 3 million cubic metres of treated wastewater or ditch water into Polley Lake, which overflows into Hazeltine Creek.

At least one journalist is pointing out that although the initial reaction is to blame the company, “the buck really stops with the province”, which is responsible for the regulatory culture in the province.

Stephen Hume notes that accidents like this (although not to this scale) have been happening repeatedly. In his article he cites a warning given in 2012 by The University of Victoria’s Environmental Law Centre, which noted that environmental assessment certificates for mines issued by government are often “vague and unenforceable.” Furthermore, it said that by 2008 the number of mine inspections had fallen to half what they were in 2001 and Ministry of Environment staff shrank by 25 per cent.

This is an accident that should not have happened. The warning signs were there, and yet no action took place. How many warnings must the government issue to a company before more significant action is taken? We need to ensure that the government has the necessary regulatory teeth and resources to act to prevent disasters such as the one that occurred at Mount Polley.

Going forward, we need to ensure that our first priority is that the health and well being of those affected is being looked after. This needs to include ensuring that the short term financial needs of local communities including First Nations are met, as many people find themselves without an income, and with new costs.

From the government’s side, we are still waiting for their report on the water quality in the area. In the government’s press release, the Ministry of Environment said it was on-site conducting water tests to determine the full extent of potential environmental impacts. Water sampling took place the evening of August 4^th with samples having been sent for analysis, and results expected later this week. I have called on the Minister of Environment to consider independent testing to reassure local residents and those potentially affected downstream that the information is complete and impartial.

Following this, we need to start addressing how clean up of this disaster will occur, including short and long term mitigation of impacts on humans and the environment.

I will be working hard on this issue in the weeks and months that follow. At the moment I have a number of questions that I will be seeking answers to, including:

1)    What support is government offering to local communities including local First Nations to help fund this period of transition?

2)    Will there be any impacts on the Fraser River salmon run?

3)    What is the best practice in cleaning up a tailings pond spill, especially given the limited number of incidences in BC that this has happened (at this time Minister Bennett is saying this has never happened before in the province)?

4)    What contingency plans exist in government to help support its efforts financially to address this disaster, including if Imperial Metals declares we’re unable to pay for the cleanup?

5)    What role has the government’s cuts to enforcement and their approach to enforcement played in causing this accident?

6)    Are there other tailings ponds that should be red flagged?

Please don’t hesitate to contact my office if you have any questions.