TotalEnergies considers foray into copper trading
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British Columbia needs more evironmental regulations to govern mine development, says the University of Victoria Environmental Law Centre.
The authors, Calvin Sandborn is legal director and Maya Stano, claim that the current mine regulatory system is weak:
There is an urgent need to reform this environmental protection regime.
A recent Environmental Law Centre study found:
– The legal rules set out in Environmental Assessment certificates are often actually drafted by the mining company, can be vague and unenforceable and are not monitored over the life of the mine.
– The number of government mine inspections in 2008 was only half the number of inspections carried out in 2001.
– The number of provincial staff dedicated to mine reclamation issues has dropped by more than 50 per cent.
– Since 1998, Ministry of Environment staff have been reduced by more than 25 per cent.
– From 2006 until 2010, MOE took only six enforcement actions for coal and metal mine violations. Five of those penalties amounted to less than $600 each.
– The province’s chief inspector of mines failed to file the legally required 2009 and 2010 annual reports on enforcement and other issues – and cited lack of staff as a reason.
The BC Liberal government has been pushing for mining regulation reform of its own, but reform that would help streamline the approval process. Both the federal and provincial government undertake an environmental review of mining projects. The provincial government says it wants to streamline the application process and stop duplication.
Environmental concerns at the federal level scuttled the Prosperity Mine application last year after the project was initially approved at the provincial level.
The first application, a plan for an open-pit gold and copper mine near Williams Lake, was rejected by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency in 2010 due to concerns over the environmental impact. A second revised application was submitted in February 2011.
Premier Christy Clark supports development of the mine and has been lobbying the the federal government to support Taseko’s revised application.
Michael McCrae wrote this story. You can contact him at [email protected] or on twitter at @michaelmccrae.
