First Nation launches challenge of B.C.’s approval to raise Mount Polley mine dam
VANCOUVER — A British Columbia First Nation has filed a legal challenge over the plan to allow the Mount Polley mine to raise its tailings dam a decade after a similar storage site at the mine gave way, creating one of the province’s largest environmental disasters.
The Xatsull First Nation has filed a petition in B.C. Supreme Court requesting a judicial review of the government decision to approve the raising of the dam by four metres without “meaningful” conversations with the nation.
Chief Rhonda Phillips told a news conference in front of Vancouver’s courthouse that the province is allowing work at the Mount Polley tailing dam to proceed without an environmental assessment.
Phillips says her nation also wants a court injunction that would prevent the raising of the dam while the court process is underway.
