SkeenaWild executive director Greg Knox said he and his team spent four months compiling the data from limited ministry documents, mining company websites and interviews, and environmental assessment reports. “The information on the map was challenging to uncover,” Knox said. “How can we begin to investigate these potentially mine-damaged waters and monitor the extent of the pollution, when the information is not even available to the public?” The map features 173 large coal or metal mines either closed, abandoned, or active, but excludes 130 sites currently in the exploration stage. Of those studied, only two sites pose no water contamination threat, according to the research, while 116 have already contaminated the surrounding environment or have the potential to do so. Knox said 55 of the sites had no publicly-available information about contamination risk.
Updated Feb. 6, 2021, at 8:40 a.m.: this story was updated to clarify that the Bell and Granisle mines have been polluting Babine Lake since they were operational. Decades after closing, an open-pit copper mine in northwest B.C. is still discharging wastewater with metal concentrations 250 times higher than what’s considered safe for salmon into Babine Lake, the sockeye salmon engine of the Skeena River watershed, according to a new report by SkeenaWild Conservation Trust and Lake Babine Nation. And the situation at the Granisle mine one of two decommissioned mines on the lake is indicative of what’s happening across the province.
More than 100 contaminated mine sites in B.C. threaten water, wildlife and communities - BC News castanet.net - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from castanet.net Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Two Williams Lake men fined for snowmobiling in caribou closure
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A pair of men from Williams Lake has been fined over $9,000 by the Conversation Officer Service (COS) for snowmobiling in a caribou closure area back in 2019.
In March 2019, Conservation Officers and RCMP conducted a joint helicopter patrol of snowmobile closures east of Williams Lake.
Two snowmobilers were seen operating within the Grain Creek snowmobile closure near Quesnel Lake. The two operators went to significant efforts to evade all officers’ attempts to make contact but were eventually arrested near Caribou Lake.
One man was fined $5,050 after being found guilty of operating a snowmobile in a closed area, obstructing a Conservation Officer and operating a snowmobile in a reckless manner. The other man was fined $4,000 for operating a snowmobile in a closed area.
Record fines for snowmobiling in protected mountain caribou area alaskahighwaynews.ca - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from alaskahighwaynews.ca Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.