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One of the largest mining-dam failures in the world in the past 50 years, the Aug. 4, 2014, dam collapse of Imperial Metals’ gold mine in the B.C. Interior shook the industry and caused concern among the public, First Nations and environmental groups that aquatic life would be harmed, particularly salmon that use the Quesnel Lake system to spawn.

“We are holding our breaths over the next couple of weeks to see what happens,” said Christine McLean, who has a home on the lake. “If charges are laid, we feel that we will finally get some justice.”

Photo by Province of B.C.

In a written response, Environment Canada said the investigation team’s charge report was delivered April 2, 2019.

The Public Prosecution Service of Canada, with the help of the B.C. Prosecution Service, is assessing the charge file. “As the matter is now under charge assessment, (Environment Canada) is not in a position to provide further comment at this time,” ministry spokesman Mark Johnson said Friday.

Linda Nowlan, a staff lawyer with West Coast Environmental Law, said the fact federal officials have mentioned there is no timeline for an indictment, may mean they are considering that route.

However, Nowlan said she hopes that charges are laid soon.

“I would be astonished if they did not lay charges, but they have to think they have a likelihood of conviction,” said Nowlan. “And if they think the company exercised due diligence that might give them second thoughts.”

Late last year, Imperial Metals announced that action for damages from the tailings dam failure had been settled among the parties, which included engineering firms, and resulted in net payments to the mining company of $108 million.

Nowlan said the settlement would “no doubt” be taken into consideration in deciding whether to lay charges.

Photo by Stuart Davis / PNG files

Mining Watch Canada director Ugo Lapointe is concerned about the length of time it has taken to lay charges and also that most penalties from spills into the environment are levied when companies reach settlements and plead guilty.

“I think it stinks. It doesn’t look good,” said Lapointe.

The largest penalty to a mining company in Canada was $7.5 million issued to Cliff Resources in 2014 for the Bloom Lake Mine spills over four years. The company pleaded guilty to 45 charges under the Fisheries Act, including a breach of a tailings pond.

The largest fine in British Columbia was $3.4 million handed to Teck Metals in 2014. The company plead guilty to three offences under the Fisheries Act, including multiple incidents resulting in the discharge of 125 million litres of effluent into the Columbia River between 2013 and 2015.