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 10th, 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.
“In the last 3 weeks, they all had their meetings, and we as a community of ?Esdilagh and the Chilcotin Nation we put in a resolution there regarding this discharge into the Fraser River and all three of those Organizations which covers all of the Nations in BC they all supported us.”
Gibraltar Mines was approved to increase discharge effluent to the Fraser River from 0.190 cubic meters per second to 0.285 cubic meters from April 10 2019 to November 10, 2021.
In the permit, it says the discharge must be suspended during the period of November 11th to April 9th.
We reached out to Taseko Mines (March 12) for comment but have so far not heard back
The Environmental Appeal Board meeting will be held all next week.
Something going on in the Cariboo you think people should know about?
Send us a news tip by emailing [email protected].
