Council of Canadians calls on federal government to respect Federal Review Panel findings on Taseko mine project

Vancouver – The Council of Canadians welcomes the findings of the federal panel which just completed its review of a proposal by Vancouver-based Taseko Mines Ltd for a gold-copper project on Tsilhqot'in land south west of Williams Lake, BC. The organization is demanding that the federal Minister of the Environment,  the Ministers of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Transport Canada and Natural Resources Canada reject the company's request based on the panel's recommendation. 

Released earlier today, the report concludes that the proposed Prosperity Gold-Copper Mine project will have ‘significant adverse environmental effect’  and ‘significant cumulative impact’ on fish and bear population and habitat around Teztan Biny (Fish Lake), Fish Creek and Little Fish Lake by creating rock waste and tailing impoundment areas near Williams Lake, British Columbia. The Panel also cites impact on ‘current use of lands and resources for traditional purposes by First Nations and on cultural heritage’ and ‘certain potential or established Aboriginal rights or title.’

“The report outlines serious and legitimate concerns of long term impact of the mine, including the creation of toxic tailings impoundment areas that the Tsilhqot’in First Nation, the Council of Canadians, expert scientists and others in the community presented to the federal panel in the spring,” says Maude Barlow, Chairperson of the Council of Canadians. “The federal government would be wise to heed the findings and shut down this mine proposal entirely or face huge resistance in BC and across Canada.”

The Council of Canadians has joined the The Tsilhqot’in First Nation and local community and environmental groups in opposing mining company Taseko’s request to use Schedule 2 – a loophole in the Metal Mining Effluent Regulation (MMER) of the federal Fisheries Act in order to dump toxic waste into healthy bodies of fish-bearing water in the area. Among the bodies of water to be destroyed by the mining project, Taseko has requested permission to drain Teztan Biny - a lake of deep cultural significance to the Tsilhqot'in Nation that is home to approximately 80,000 rainbow trout and other aquatic species.

“Schedule 2 is been used by mining companies like Taseko to strip healthy lakes of all environmental protections under the federal Fisheries Act so that they can be used as dumps for toxic mine waste,” says Harjap Grewal, BC-Yukon Regional Organizer for the Council of Canadians, who attended the Federal Review Panel hearing in March in William’s Lake, BC.

The Federal Reviews Panel’s recommendations will serve to strengthen the federal legal challenge against Schedule 2 by the Sandy Pond Alliance.  The Sandy Pond Alliance – a coalition that includes the Council of Canadians, MiningWatch, the Newfoundland and Labrador Natural History Society, Sierra Club Atlantic, and scientists and activists in Newfoundland – believes it is illegal for the federal government to allow the dumping of mining waste into Canadian lakes and rivers.

“We will work with BC communities to oppose the destruction of Teztan Biny until the federal government has cancelled the project,” said Meera Karunananthan, Water Campaigner for The Council of Canadians, “And regardless of the final decision, we will continue to challenge Schedule 2, which remains a threat to all lakes in Canada.”

-30-

For further information, contact:
Meera Karunananthan, 613.355.2100, meera@canadians.org
Carleen Pickard, 613.301.8346, cpickard@canadians.org

and see: www.canadians.org/TIA

Make your voice heard! Write to Environment Minister Jim Prentice and tell him the Schedule 2 loophole must be closed!