TNG To Challenge A Permit Amendment
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The Tsilhqot’in National Government will be taking part in an Environmental Appeal Board virtual meeting starting this Monday.
They are challenging a permit amendment issued in 2019 by a Director of the BC Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy that authorized an increase in discharge from the Gibraltar Mines impoundment directly into the Fraser River.
Beginning April 10
th, the mine effluent would be discharged via a pipe into the river 4 kilometres downstream from the community of ?Esdilagh near traditional fishing sites.
Toosey Chief Francis Laceese says they’ve gotten support from the BC Treaty Nations, The Union of BC Indian Chiefs, and the AFN.
The Fraser River is seen west of Williams Lake from Doc English Bluff Ecological Reserve. (Rebecca Dyok photo) A permit authorizing the use of the Fraser River for dilution of mine effluent is being challenged by the Tsilhqot’in National Government (TNG). The TNG will be participating in a virtual Environmental Appeal Board hearing next week on behalf of the ʔEsdilagh First Nation, which is located along both sides of the Fraser River between Williams Lake and Quesnel. “The fact that the province of B.C. is permitting Gibraltar Mines Ltd. to use the Fraser River as a dumping ground for its tailings effluent is absolutely appalling,” ʔEsdilagh First Nation Chief Troy Baptiste said in a news release March 8.
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Tl’etinqox Chief Joe Alphonse, who is seeking re-election, could not be reached for immediate comment. Positive cases have been identified in every Indigenous community in the Chilcotin. A local state of emergency remains in effect until Feb. 5 at Ulkatcho First Nation with non-members prohibited from entering the community. Ulkatcho First Nation band manager Brian Johnson confirmed a positive case was identified Jan. 18. “Everyone will be issued a permit to place on their dashboard, and we have implemented a curfew from 9 p.m. until 6 a.m.,” Chief Lynda Price said in a Jan. 14 Facebook video. COVID-19 cases have also been identified on-reserve at Tsideldel, Yunesit’in, Xeni Gwet’in and Tl’esqox.