Province to cap copper mine leaking toxic chemical into Tsolum River
MARK HUME
theglobeandmail.com
April 15, 2008
VANCOUVER -- An abandoned copper mine that for four decades has leached a toxic mix into the Tsolum River on Vancouver Island, devastating salmon, trout and steelhead stocks, may finally get turned off.
British Columbia Environment Minister Barry Penner announced yesterday that the government will spend $4.5-million to cap the mine with a pliable roofing-like material.
Mr. Penner said the hope is that by sealing off the mine site from water, the toxic copper leachate can be stopped and a river that once had annual runs of more than 200,000 salmon can be brought back to life.
"A number of interim measures and solutions have been tried over the past 20 years. They've had some success but we know the benefits have been limited," he said.
A wetland that was built in 2003 as a natural bio-filter succeeded in removing some of the copper, but it is becoming saturated with contaminants and over the next five to 10 years is expected to stop working.
"A longer-term solution was needed," Mr. Penner said.
He said there is no guarantee of success, but capping the mine is the best hope for saving the once-productive salmon river, located in the Comox Valley near Courtenay.
"I'm very optimistic that we can see a very strong recovery for the Tsolum," Mr. Penner said.
"It has been devastated in the past by the leaching of copper sulphate."
He said fish can be killed when copper sulphate gets above seven parts per billion in water. Some samples from the Tsolum watershed showed readings of 17,000 parts per billion.
In 1983, about 2.5 million pink salmon were released into the river in the hopes of kick-starting the moribund salmon run - but not a single one survived.
Starting in about 1987, the province began funding efforts to address the situation, and since then has spent approximately $1.6-million.
Although the river showed some signs of recovery after the wetlands were built, the constant leaching of copper sulphate has made it impossible for significant numbers of fish to survive.
"We've concluded ... we really need to hit this head-on and that means capping the old mine site, which is really festering like an open sore on the side of the mountain," Mr. Penner said.
The open pit mine was built on Mount Washington in 1964 and abandoned in 1967.
The Tsolum River Restoration Society has been pushing to cap the mine for years. |
