Tuesday, March 1, 2011

The open pit mine & the mind of the new premier: ominous signs for the environment in British Columbia

Christy Clark, the newly elected leader of the provincial Liberals, says she wants to revive the Prosperity gold-copper mine project near Williams Lake.
    The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency already held sixty days of hearings about an earlier version of the mine, and rejected it resoundingly.
    Tsilhqot'in Tribal Chair, Chief Joe Alphonse said, "The panel's report was the most damning the CEAA has ever released against a proposal.  It highlighted in detail the extensive violation of First Nations rights that would occur and the devastating impact that this lake- and ecosystem-killing open-pit mine would cause with its massive 35 square kilometre, footprint on a pristine wilderness area."
    It has been merely two days since she was selected to be premier of the province.  If reviving an open-pit mine proposal is an example of what Christy Clark’s leadership is going to look like in respect of the environment, then the environment is in deep trouble in British Columbia.

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