Premier John Horgan said the province will not intervene in a private prosecution brought by former Xat’sull chief Bev Sellars against the Mount Polley Mining Corporation for violations of B.C.’s environmental laws in the 2014 tailings pond collapse that released 24 million cubic metres of mining waste into Hazeltine Creek and Quesnel Lake, a source of drinking water.
Sellars filed the case on August 4th, 2017 — the last day a case under provincial law could be brought against the company due to a three-year statute of limitations — as a means of holding open the legal door (Read more…) government, which had only recently come under NDP power.
The courts are expected to make a decision on the fate of the private prosecution by the end of January.