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| The tailings pond breach at Mt. Polley. Photo by The Nelson Daily |
What are you willing to go without? Your computer? Your TV? How about your cell phone? Your digital connection to the world? How many technological comforts are you willing to abandon for the sake of the environment?
A pristine forest creek in central BC became toxic sludge dump last week. If the history of mining disasters teaches us anything, it's that a spill of this magnitude will never get cleaned up. The story is the same everywhere, and it always goes something like this:
1) Disaster occurs, which is rarely surprising after years of warnings being ignored and critics being muzzled, etc:
"In an email to CBC News, a Ministry of Environment spokesperson said the ministry gave the company its latest of five warnings in May, this time for exceeding the permitted height of wastewater within its tailings pond."
1) Disaster occurs, which is rarely surprising after years of warnings being ignored and critics being muzzled, etc:
"In an email to CBC News, a Ministry of Environment spokesperson said the ministry gave the company its latest of five warnings in May, this time for exceeding the permitted height of wastewater within its tailings pond."
"Likely resident Larry Chambers [...] had worked at the mine but was dismissed at the end of last year. He said it was because he had raised safety and environmental concerns."
Source: http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Imperial+Metals+given+deadline+dealing+with+disastrous+breach+Mount+Polley+mine+tailings/10088871/story.html
2) Token expression of shock and sorrow from the company and the government, with both promising thorough reviews and more responsible resource management in the future:
"Our first priority is the health and safety of our employees and neighbours, and we are relieved no loss of life or injury have been reported. We are deeply concerned and are working to mitigate immediate effects and understand the cause." - Imperial Metals
2) Token expression of shock and sorrow from the company and the government, with both promising thorough reviews and more responsible resource management in the future:
"Our first priority is the health and safety of our employees and neighbours, and we are relieved no loss of life or injury have been reported. We are deeply concerned and are working to mitigate immediate effects and understand the cause." - Imperial Metals
B.C. Energy and Mines Minister Bill Bennett says he is devoting every appropriate resource to deal with the consequences of Monday's spill. "This is a serious incident that should not have happened," he said in a written statement. "We will determine the cause of the event and we are determined to prevent an incident like this from happening again."
Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/mount-polley-mine-tailings-water-very-close-to-drinking-quality-company-says-1.2727776
3) Photo op with the local first nation and government officials. Because if history has taught us anything, it's that our goverment cares a great deal for the welfare of Aboriginal peoples.
4) Laughably small fine levied under a poorly enforced subsection of environmental protection law.
Historical case in BC, one of many documented in "Undermining the Law," published 2001 by West Coast Environmental Law: http://wcel.org/resources/publication/undermining-law-addressing-crisis-compliance-environmental-mining-laws-bc
Teck Coal at Fording River Coal Mine, guilty in 2001 of harmful alteration or disruption of fish habitat under the Fisheries Act; guilty of 2 charges of releasing special waste and failure to comply with the requirements of an approval under the Waste Management Act.
Total fines levied: $18,000.
Teck Coal Revenues in 2001: $2.379 billion.
5) Lives and businesses of local residents destroyed, environment permanently altered by toxins and debris.
"This thing is so surreal, so unneccessary, the whole community is just so devastated," he told CBC. "This is our life, this is why we're here, this water is so pristine. And they've killed it. They've killed my town, they've killed my damn town." - Skeed Boorkowski, fly fishing destination resort owner, Likely BC.
3) Photo op with the local first nation and government officials. Because if history has taught us anything, it's that our goverment cares a great deal for the welfare of Aboriginal peoples.
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| Christie Clark and Minister of Energy & Mines Bill Bennett at a smudge with the Secwepemc First Nation after the spill, photo from CFNRfm.ca |
Historical case in BC, one of many documented in "Undermining the Law," published 2001 by West Coast Environmental Law: http://wcel.org/resources/publication/undermining-law-addressing-crisis-compliance-environmental-mining-laws-bc
Teck Coal at Fording River Coal Mine, guilty in 2001 of harmful alteration or disruption of fish habitat under the Fisheries Act; guilty of 2 charges of releasing special waste and failure to comply with the requirements of an approval under the Waste Management Act.
Total fines levied: $18,000.
Teck Coal Revenues in 2001: $2.379 billion.
5) Lives and businesses of local residents destroyed, environment permanently altered by toxins and debris.
"This thing is so surreal, so unneccessary, the whole community is just so devastated," he told CBC. "This is our life, this is why we're here, this water is so pristine. And they've killed it. They've killed my town, they've killed my damn town." - Skeed Boorkowski, fly fishing destination resort owner, Likely BC.
Ongoing case, tailings seepage and spills from Alberta tar sands mines:
"The river water tastes differently now — oily, sour, or salty, for instance. Boiling Athabasca River water leaves a brown residue in pots. And fish in the river sport high rates of lesions and deformities." - resident reports from Fort Chipewyan.
6) Slow cleanup effort, perpetually hampered by delays, excuses, and foot-dragging by industry, government, and those charged with monitoring the cleanup. Taxpayers eat the bill for the majority of cleanup costs.
Historical case in Yellowknife, NWT: Giant Mine.
"Documents obtained by northern environmentalists show the government expects the cost of cleaning up the Giant Mine just outside Yellowknife to be nearly a billion dollars – perhaps the largest single environmental cleanup in Canada and paid for entirely by taxpayers.
Initial estimates for safely dealing with the huge site, which includes a toxic smorgasbord of buildings, tailings ponds and a quarter-million tonnes of arsenic stored underground, were about $488-million. A federal progress report on the project says costs have increased as more has become known about the scale of the problem."
7) Business as usual.
"N. Murray Edwards, the controlling shareholder of Imperial Metals Corp. which owns the Mount Polley mine, helped organize a $1-million private fundraiser in Calgary last year to bolster B.C. Premier Christy Clark’s re-election bid."
Source: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Major+Imperial+Metals+shareholder+held+private+fundraiser+Clark+election/10102715/story.html#ixzz3A2YBLoWK
The spill at Mt. Polley last week hit particularly close to home for me. They mine copper and gold. I work in the electronics industry where copper and gold are the essential minerals that make our work possible. Every piece of electronic technology you own contains both ingredients. They're absolutely essential to the modern world, and the digital connectivity we all enjoy wouldn't be possible without them.
It's incredibly sad and not particularly surprising to see this disaster unfold. The precedent has been set for years. A cursory review of mining history shows a legacy of profits and devastation, where a select few reap the benefits and the rest of us pay the cost. I don't see how this particular case will turn out any different.
And it hurts, because I depend on it for my livelihood. More than the average person. I repaired something for the Mt. Polley mine a few months ago. My own personal stamp on this legacy - somewhere in central BC, one of their trucks has my handiwork inside.
Where does this leave me? It gets harder and harder all the time to ignore the ethical queasiness in the pit of my stomach. In fact, I can't ignore it and it's gnawing at me. I'm working on my exit strategy, but it's scary because this work virtually guarantees me a good salary for as long as I'd care to receive it and it's ever so tempting to forgo my principles and passions for the sake of financial stability, just as so many others have done. I'm not going to let that stop me, but I don't care to pass judgement on those who choose long term security instead. In our society, it's a sound strategy. Who among us can justifiably criticize it? We all need food and shelter, and unfortunately the resource extraction industry is one of the few left in Canada that can provide working people with a decent living wage.
I think about others who are in my position and weep. Everyone working in Fort Mac in Alberta's tar sands knows exactly what they're up to and what the effect is on the environment, but they're also regular people who've been caught up by a system that demands of their time and talents in exchange for money.
It's easy to vilify Big Oil and Big Industry and their ilk, but those evil corporations are made up of people just like me who are struggling to keep the bills paid and put food on the table. Most of their ranks are composed of workers who saw an opportunity to feed their families and took advantage. This is a systemic problem, and if we would live to see it resolved we all have a role to play.
I think about others who are in my position and weep. Everyone working in Fort Mac in Alberta's tar sands knows exactly what they're up to and what the effect is on the environment, but they're also regular people who've been caught up by a system that demands of their time and talents in exchange for money.
It's easy to vilify Big Oil and Big Industry and their ilk, but those evil corporations are made up of people just like me who are struggling to keep the bills paid and put food on the table. Most of their ranks are composed of workers who saw an opportunity to feed their families and took advantage. This is a systemic problem, and if we would live to see it resolved we all have a role to play.
Do you want to prevent these sort of disasters? I see it all the time on Facebook, from the slogans to the re-posting of articles about this tailings spill - "Stop the Tar Sands," "No Pipelines," "This is Unacceptable." Pick a popular campaign, there's no lack of them to choose from. But our individual role in negating these disasters isn't being talked about. I feel that until people are as interested in environmental advocacy and action as they are in Facebook, we're going to stay in the same pattern. That device you just used to re-tweet or share or Like that article is made of the same ingredients that Mt. Polley mine has been pulling out of the ground.
So again I ask, what are you willing to give up? Because to me, waiting around to see what "they" will figure out next to produce cleaner energy and more ethical cell phones is a huge cop-out. There is no magic bullet, there is no single product or invention that will rapidly change the economy that is built on copper wire and gold contacts. If you're willing to sacrifice a mine worker's job, but you're simultaneously unwilling to unplug your phone and turn off your computer, you're a hypocrite. Just like me.
Why do mines like Mt. Polley exist? Because we buy their products. They dig up mineral ores because we keep asking for them. Because we depend on the metals they sell to get our news, start our cars, read our text messages, check our email, do our banking, pay for our coffees, and watch our TVs.
Who among us will implicate ourselves? I'm not ready to throw my cell phone away and move into the forest just yet, so where's the middle ground? If I abandon my job and can't feed my family as a consequence, what ethical ground have I gained? Fear of starvation and homelessness are small comfort for the sake of a clean conscience.
We all have to make a choice - individually and collectively. I see nothing in the future but failure until we've all agreed collectively and individually that going without some of life's modern comforts and slowing down on development is an acceptable outcome.
I don't know what to do. It's a massive problem, and I'm part of it. Every part of my day depends on copper and gold. My leisure, my communication, and my paycheque. You wouldn't be reading this blog without them. I wouldn't be writing it. Is there another way around it, other than letting the whole thing fall in on itself? Not as far as I can tell. I'm working on my exit strategy. How about you?
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| Photo by Jonathan Hayward, Canadian Press |