BC water ban!
On August 4 2014, Mount Polley Mine tailings pond has breached releasing debris and millions of cubic metres of waste water into nearby roads and waterways. The width of the creek has swollen in size because of the washout. From four to 150 feet wide! WOW!
Now authorities have expanded the water-use ban to include the Quesnel and Cariboo Rivers up to the Fraser River. In the initial ban, only inhabitants living around the Mount Polley mine area, near the town of Likely, were concerned and asked to drink only bottled water.
Like in Toledo, hundreds of people living around Quesnel Lake, Polley Lake, along Hazeltine Creek, Cariboo Creek, Quesnel and Cariboo Rivers are asked not to drink tap water… But for an complete other reason!
On Monday morning, the earthen dam holding waste water from the Mount Polley mine was breached, sending its contents into Hazeltine Creek. Although most of the waste appears to have been contained in the creek, some of the material has flowed into Quesnel Lake and Polley Lake.
Authorities are asking people in the region to stop using water from Quesnel and Cariboo rivers. People in Quesnel are also being asked to avoid using water from the Quesnel River. The ban does not apply to people in Williams Lake or other towns along the Fraser River.
Hopefully, authorities are right and this BC water ban will not have to be expanded to other regions of British Colombia! It is such a nice place!
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