First Nation takes B.C. government to court over Mount Polley dam expansion [Video]

A First Nation is launching a legal challenge to the British Columbia government’s approval of a tailings pond dam expansion at the Mount Polley mine.

The approval comes just over a decade after a tailings pond burst at the same mine, spilling more than 20 million cubic metres of mining wastewater into local waterways — one of the province’s worst-ever environmental disasters.

In March, the province approved the raising of the mine’s tailings dam by four metres, saying it was necessary to manage spring runoff.

The Xatśūll First Nation says it is filing for a judicial review of the project approval, arguing the province failed to conduct an environmental assessment, failed in its constitutional duty to consult the nation and did not obtain free, prior and informed consent as required under B.C.’s own Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.

Xatśūll Kukpi7 (Chief) Rhonda Phillips said the move was a “serious …