I have been following the story on the Tyee since it broke. They have published many good in depth articles since the first morning. I also find that generally the commentary on the Tyee is more progressive than on babble. Here is the first days story with video coverage of the whole spill.

http://thetyee.ca/News/2014/08/05/Mine-Tailings-Spill/

Without rehashing the entire history via media pieces, I think it's fair to say that despite official declarations of shock and confusion about how an earthen dam tailings pond stressed beyond its capacity could possibly breach, there is a general consensus among more honest people that the Imperial Metals tailings pond was being used beyond its engineered capacity, and there are engineering and workers' testimonies confirming this.

Given that, federally, Harper has allowed the reclassification of many Canadian lakes and watersheds as tailings ponds, and given that Imperial Metals had previously applied to the Ministry of Mines to start draining some of its waste into Polley Lake and what was then Hazeltine Creek it certainly appears like a convenient 'oopsie' by Imperial Metals that their pond breached into those very waterways.

The BC government has responded atrociously, first by denying the gravity of the situation (Bill Bennett claiming that it's no worse than avalanches), then by officially downplaying and outright denying the real or potential toxicity of the water and the sludge, which have entered Quesnel Lake. And now by announcing an "investigation" that still hasn't acknowledged any responsibility of the mine owner or of Bennett, Minister of Mines, who was made aware several times of concerns about the tailings pond and did nothing about it. An investigation that is also taking on a broader (and at this time unnecessary) scope, presumably in an effort to distract from the issue at hand.

Thanks, Krop. Yes, The Tyee has been awesome.

Some other ones from The Tyee:

Crony Capitalism Alive and Well at Mount Polley

Imperial Metals' Political Gifts to BC Liberals Total $234,000

This one just out:

Mine Disaster: Who Will Investigate Gov't Failings?

The Cariboo Regional District's flyover of the spill as it was occurring. (Note: incorrect spelling of "tailings")

http://youtu.be/M1YgX2jXnpA

The "pond" was 4 square kilometres. (Some reports have it as 4 x 4 km, which would make it 16 sq km)

Meanwhile, the response from the BC NDP has been tepid, at best. They applaud the "independent investigation" (which uses "experts" appointed by the very ministry that ignored the warnings about the pond) and grumble on about documents not being released. They could be hammering on so many issues relating to long-term BC liberal governance, such as the relaxing of standards and environmental protections, the deliberate decline in mining inspections, the relationship the Liberals have to big capital in the resource sector. The other errors in BC Liberal governance and judgement that this so closely parallels.

The BC NDP needs to be the voice of outrage right now, and instead they offer nothing more than infrequent, wishy-washy statements that mirror the helplessness that BCers feel about this. It took the federal environment critic, a Halifax MP, to voice the outrage that BCers, especially Mt Polley locals, feel. Where the hell are the BC MLAs?? More evidence that Horgan is not offering a credible alternative for British Columbians. I can't support such lack of action.

Revised figures for the size of the spill now suggest that it is the largest tailings pond spill - ever.

http://commonsensecanadian.ca/imperial-boosts-mount-polley-spill-estimat...

ETA: and may be larger still....

http://commonsensecanadian.ca/mount-polley-spill-may-far-bigger-initiall...

http://www.bctwa.org/MtPolley-SatelliteCompilation.pdf

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-carter/when-the-levee-breaks_b_572512...

https://www.facebook.com/events/261373707396632/

Facebook groups (please add your own):

Mount Polley Spill Uncensored

Mount Polley Mine- Disaster Information

Webinar: Responding to the Imperial Metals Mount Polley Mining Disaster: Interactive Webcast for Communities, Groups, Organizers and Allies September 12, 2014 at 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm

Mt. Polley worker fired for reporting tailings dam concerns six months before it blows.

Let's hope his union is already on this case - !? I believe it's the USW.

It is the USW Local 1-425. That Local tends to be very BC Liberal friendly. This is the woodworking local that was the BC Liberals ally in the assault on health care unions and the HEU's mortal enemy.

Yes, I noticed that their only public statement to date  -- and that only a week or so ago -- was that they want to see the mine back in operation as soon as possible. Not too impressive from a union that, as we see here, advertises on Rabble.

In any case, I hope he pursues it because the local would be required to represent him whether they feel like it or not. And events since his firing clearly show not only were his "unfounded accusations" correct, but that he was doing the right thing by reporting them.

Bennett, Macdonald tangle over Mt. Polley

"The Mount Polley breach was not an accident. The area was not subject to a catastrophic weather event. There was no earthquake. There is no suggestion of an act of terror. It simply failed.

"And Bill Bennett, the Minister responsible for mines, knew there were real concerns with the Mount Polley tailings enclosure prior to the breach, yet he did nothing."

Crack in Mount Polley mine’s dam noted in 2010 inspection report (with report) 

..from an idle no more email

Four days ago the Klabona Keepers and the Secwepemc exercised their natural law and set-up a blockade at the Red Chris Mine to ensure that their land is not poisoned by another disaster like the spill at the Mount Polley mine.  Two days from now over 125 vigils for missing and murdered Indigenous women will be held from coast to coast to coast.  Two weeks ago Indigenous organizers from Idle No More and many other groups joined together for a massive Peoples Climate March in New York.  These are just a few glimpses of the powerful movement that we are a part of, a movement towards self-determination and the protection of our lands and waters.  Read more below!

Indigenous Resistance to Mount Polley Mining Disaster

BREAKING NEWS: Blockade at Red Chris Mine
The Klabona Keepers and the Secwepemc [Grandmothers Fireplace] are exercising their natural law, and asserting their jurisdiction to regulate industry in their own Territories by creating a blockade at Red Chris Mine:http://www.terracestandard.com/news/277522351.html

VIDEO: Klabona Keepers Shut Down Red Chris Imperial Mine:  http://vimeo.com/107615821
Klabona Keepers is an organization of Tahltan elders and families who occupy and use traditional lands near Iskut, British Columbia known as Tl’abāne, the Sacred Headwaters of the Stikine, Nass and Skeena Rivers.https://www.facebook.com/klabonakeepers

Yuct Ne Senxiymetkwe Camp
Secwepemc disaster monitoring checkpoint and encampment at the entrance of the Imperial Metals' Mount Polley Mine.https://www.facebook.com/yuctnesenxiymetkwecamp

OPEN LETTER regarding Union of BC Indian Chiefs Resolution 2014-17
“Support for Xat’sull and Williams Lake First Nations, Call for Public Inquiry and Mining Reform in the Aftermath of the Mount Polley Disaster”  Read more:Mount Polley Disaster: Support for Xat’sull and Williams Lake Nations, Call for Public Inquiry and Mining Reform

Indigenous Resistance to Mount Polley Mining Disaster
If you missed this incredible live webinar you can still check out the youtube video.  The third webinar from the #TurnTheTables webinar series organized by Idle No More and Defenders of the Land was moderated by Kanahus Manuel and included powerful testimony from Secwepemc Elder Jean William and Mining Researcher and Educator Joan Kuyak.  http://www.idlenomore.ca/mount_polley_webinar

Could you imagine going two months without clean water?

..from my # 17 post. an important listen in order to understand the magnitude of this spill and the importance of resistance. a description begins around the 14min mark.

http://www.idlenomore.ca/mount_polley_webinar?utm_campaign=oct2014blast&...

"Before they took the children away from the land, now they take the land away from the children," - Rhoda Quock

Tahltan escalate opposition to Imperial Metals

video:

The Tahltan Nation in northern British Columbia has once again set up a road block to stop Imperial Metals from opening a new mine.

They fear that the Red Chris Mine threatens their territory.

Imperial Metals also owns the Mount Polley Mine which, two months ago, saw its tailings pond dam fail and release millions of cubic metres of toxic waste water.

The Red Chris mine has a similar tailings pond and the Tahltan erected a second roadblock in just a month at the entrance of the mine.

In downtown Vancouver, Imperial Metals’ head office was also hit by a rally.

IMPERIAL METALS REQUESTS COURT INJUNCTION TO ARREST KLABONA KEEPER ELDERS

[FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE]

UNCEDED TAHLTAN TERRITORY, BC – October 3, 2014

On October 3, 2014 Imperial Metals, the company responsible for the Mt. Polly disaster, has requested an injunction notice to remove the Klabona Keepers elders and supporters from blockading the road to the Red Chris mine in Tahltan territory. Once the court injunction is served the elders and supporters will have 24 hours to leave the area or they will face arrest.Red Chris Mine is located on Mt. Todagin, where the Klabona Keepers carry on their ancestor’s wishes to protect the land through the guidance of their elders. After hearing from Secwepemc people impacted by the Mount Polly disaster, Klabona Keepers will not give their consent to the destruction of their traditional territory, the decimation of their salmon and moose, and pollution of pristine water. They have set up a sacred fire called Estsu Kun’desk’āke (grandmothers fireplace) at the entrance of Imperial Metal’s Red Chris Mine.Their continued defense of the territory and opposition to the mine has great weight after the Tshilquotin decision has affirmed the collective title and jurisdiction of unceded and unsurrendered Indigenous Nations and territories. In 2006 when Red Chris was owned by BC Metals, the Klabona Keepers first began blockading to protect their territory. They exercise their sovereign rights, asserting their jurisdiction to regulate industry in their own territories. “We can not be blinded by money. The land and water is the lifeblood of our nation and we will not compromise. We are doing this for our future generations.” - Elder Mary Quock.

https://warriorpublications.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/injunctionklabon...

.......

Cop visits Imperial Metals blockade.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucUTvup97ro

The Klabona Keepers were given an injunction this morning at the Imperial Metals blockade.
Imperial Metals will have their case heard in Vancouver this Wednesday at 10am at the courthouse on Smithe Street.
If the injunction is approved, the RCMP will come in for arrests.

"Injunctions are a state tool to remove us from our lands"

Imperial Metals taking legal action for damages from Blockade

quote:

In an Oct. 3 filing, Imperial subsidiary Red Chris Development Company Ltd. said the blockaders — from the Klabona Keepers and the Secwepemc — “will not allow anyone or any supplies through” to reach the project site.

“An enforcement order is required as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have taken the position that they will not enforce a court order for an injunction without an enforcement order,” Imperial said.

Currently, according to the application, blockaders are letting people leave the site as long as supplies aren’t being flown to it instead.

Imperial said it has been using air transportation to “bring in essential materials” — food and fuel had relied on ground transportation previously.

“They advised that if helicopters were used to support the project by bringing personnel or supplies to the project site, then no one would be allowed to leave,” the company said in its court document.

Imperial, meanwhile, has also filed legal action for damages.

“Red Chris has been forced to severely limit its construction activities at the project site, and if the blockade continues, will be forced to halt them altogether,” Imperial said in court documents.

“This may cause Red Chris to delay operations, lay off employees and cancel or limit the contracts it enters.”....

quote:

This Wednesday the injunction will be taken to court in Vancouver at 10:00 am, with presentation from the applicant.

WE ARE CALLING ON ALL NATIONS TO COME TOGETHER AND MAKE NOISE OUTSIDE OF THE COURTHOUSE AND OCCUPY THE SPACE FOR THE ENTIRE DAY TO LET THEM KNOW THAT THEIR UNRULY ACTIONS WILL NOT PROCEED UNACCOUNTED FOR.

SHUT DOWN IMPERIAL: RALLY AT COURT INJUNCTION EVENT PAGE

http://westcoastnativenews.com/imperial-metals-taking-legal-action-for-d...

Thank you for your ongoing posts re the Tahltan....There is to be an October 24th meeting in Kamloops involving the Shuswap Secwepemc Nation and their settler allies to develop strategy re the protection of their entire Territory...it is time for some radical envisioning and proposals re governance within their Territory, given that the government in Victoria has proven negligent in their fiduciary obligation to protect the Territory in exchange for the benefits accruing.....

No government, Company, or Police force has jurisdiction on unceded Tahltan territory

quote:

The Keepers agreed to these terms on August 23, but returned to the mining roads on September 29 and set up camp. What brought them back to the blockade?

“A few women came up from Secwepemc territory and did a presentation about what happened at Mount Polley,” said Klabona Keepers spokesperson Rhoda Quock, who I reached by phone on Saturday.

One of those women was Kanahus Manuel, Secwepemc Women’s Warrior Society member and co-founder of a resistance camp I visited at Mount Polley’s entrance road in August. She brought photos and testimony from the spill site—claiming virtually nothing has been done to contain the metallic sludge and sediment in Quesnel Lake, Polley Lake, and Hazeltine Creek. “The elders cried,” Manual said. “That first day we spoke it was like a funeral.”

“If Imperial could just walk away from the disaster at Mount Polley and the government is not doing anything about it, it could happen again and nothing would be done,” Quock said of her renewed opposition, adding the community of Iskut is 11 miles from Red Chris. “This became a major concern for our elders—that’s why the blockade was put up again.”

This time the company sent security and Red Chris mine manager Tim Fisch, who coincidentally managed Mount Polley’s operations when the massive spill happened in August. “He just got transferred in September,” Quock said. (Fisch confirmed his transfer to Red Chris on camera last week.) “We’re very concerned—Fisch was at Mount Polley for a very long time.”

quote:

The injunction signals an escalation, which the tribe met with calls for support from their Secwepemc, St’at’imc, and Tsilhquot’in allies. “There’s really a heightened sense of urgency,” said Manuel, confirming a convoy of Secwepemc elders and warriors were heading up to the camp Sunday.

http://westcoastnativenews.com/no-government-company-or-police-force-has...

Connecting The Dots Between Mount Polley Mine Owner, Squamish LNG, Harper

quote:

As it turns out, we are are both quite content to continue with the "investigation" into Woodfibre LNG, because the more we look into it, the more bawdy it appears.

With the curtains slowly opening around politicians and corporate owners, the sordid, unholy bedfellow goings-on would make Ron Jeremy blush. (Cover your eyes now children and those pure of heart.)

Indeed, could the ongoing "investigation" be so easy, so simple? Consider that Byng Giraud is the vice-president of Woodfibre LNG. But guess for whom he used to work, beginning in 2010 as vice-president for "corporate affairs including government relations, community relations, aboriginal affairs and communications"? Does Imperial Metals, the company that owns the Mount Polley mine, ring a bell?

That's right, the mining company that has just poisoned Quesnel Lake, Polley Lake, Hazeltine Creek and Cariboo Creek, the entire Quesnel and Cariboo river systems right up to the salmon-bearing Fraser River.

The natural question is now (one that the investigation into this tragedy up north will hopefully pursue): What responsibility does Mr. Giraud share in this environmental catastrophe?

(At the time of this writing, the proposed fine for this gross maleficence is $1 million. No, it's not a typo. And yes, it does sound like Dr. Evil from Austin Powers. But that's just how our government rolls these days.)

For those of us back in Squamish, Howe Sound, and North Vancouver -- facing the irascible Mr. Weston -- we have every right, politically and morally, to scrutinize Mr. Giraud's track record.

Yet, in the world of politics -- especially the sort that Harper and his lieutenant, Mr. Weston imbibe -- it's not at all surprising Weston now gives a shoutout to Giraud in his new capacity of vice-president at Woodfibre LNG.

But, dear reader, you ask, "Why would the federal Conservative Party be so interested in a vice-president of an aspiring BC LNG facility?"

Again, as Mr. Weston wishes, as more time is allowed for investigation, the grainy image is getting clearer. But not in Mr. Weston's favor.

Does it also surprise you Mr. Giraud has close connections to Harper's Conservative government? How close?

Again from his bio: "Byng has extensive political experience at the national, provincial and municipal level, serving in senior advisory roles to provincial MLAs, federal MPs, senators and with B.C. ministers. He has managed or participated in over 20 federal, provincial and local elections across Canada. He has served as a director and vice-president, Western Canada on the governing council of the Conservative Party of Canada with Prime Minister Stephen Harper."

Astonished? Why? We shouldn't be. Really. Most of us are adults and not political rubes. Not in British Columbia.

But we should still be outraged....

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/g-elijah-dann/mount-polley-mine-lng-harper_...

quote:

Says Kanahus Manuel of the Yuct Ne Senxiymetkwe Camp near Mount Polley:

In light of the Tsilhqot’in case, injunctions must not and cannot be used as a tool to displace Indigenous Peoples from their homelands anymore.

.....

Imperial Metals granted injunction to remove Klabona Keepers Blockade

Imperial Metals was granted a injunction to remove the Klabona Keepers Blockade today, The Enforcement order was granted but held over until Oct 14.

The Klabona Keepers see a silver lining in the Injunction being not permanent. If Imperial Metals gets final approval to start up, today’s order will be void and the Blockade can return.

Imperial gave too short of notice and that the proceedings from now on would go thru the courts in Terrace, one of the main things the elders wanted so they can attend and prepare for the hearing, outside the court house Art Manuel said he was surprised by the ruling, “injunctions are rubber stamped 99% of the time”  something’s changed.

More to Come....

http://westcoastnativenews.com/imperial-metals-granted-injunction-to-rem...

..at the courthouse

..at the courthouse