While sediment samples collected from the area surrounding the Mount Polley tailings breach exceed some provincial standards, the B.C. Ministry of Environment insists levels are consistent with earlier baselines.
“There were some exceedances. This is to be expected because these materials samples were and are believed to be the material that was spilled out of the tailings impoundment,” B.C. Ministry of Environment regional operations director Jennifer McGuire told reporters in an August 29 conference call.
“Copper and iron were significantly higher than the standards that we have here in B.C.”
Furthermore, the ministry said it discovered “low but potentially significant” levels of arsenic and selenium concentrations within the sediment samples.
The results were collected from inside the tailings impoundment on August 12, and from outside the tailings impoundment on August 12 and 15.
McGuire said these most recent results confirm the need for long-term monitoring throughout the Cariboo region.
The Mount Polley tailings pond dam breached August 4, sending the equivalent of 4,000 Olympic-sized pools gushing through the central interior of B.C.
The Ministry of Environment confirmed no excess selenium was discovered in the tissue of fish from the area, however, traces were found in fish liver and gonads. McGuire said people would need to eat a cup of fish gonads or liver in a single day to exceed a healthy intake.
Dr. Trevor Corneil, a medical health officer with the Interior Health Authority, said the results were “reassuring” from a human health perspective.
“With regards to water, the results are similar and consistent to previous results and do indicate that clean water is in fact safe to drink,” he said, adding people should not be drinking water that appears cloudy.
