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THE GLOBE AND MAIL | It鈥檚 time to put a price on the risk of mining disasters
Published: 6 August 2018
(Opinion by聽Christopher Ragan,聽director of聽Max Bell School of Public Policy, 黑料不打烊 University.)聽
Four years ago, the Mount Polley disaster reminded us that mining comes with risks. On Aug. 4, 2014, a tailings dam at Imperial Metals鈥� Mount Polley copper and gold mine ruptured, spilling 24 million cubic metres of water and tailings into several lakes and rivers in British Columbia鈥檚 Interior. It was the largest tailings-dam rupture in Canadian history.
The best way to minimize the hazards of mining isn鈥檛 simply to reject every mining project. The resource sector is an important part of the Canadian economy and mining firms already take risk management seriously. Events such as Mount Polley are the exception, not the rule.