First Nation launches challenge of B.C.’s approval to raise Mount Polley mine dam

Contents from a tailings pond is pictured going down the Hazeltine Creek into Quesnel Lake near the town of Likely, B.C. on August, 5, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

A British Columbia First Nation has filed a legal challenge over the plan to allow the Mount Polley mine to raise its tailings dam a decade after a similar storage site at the mine gave way, creating one of the province’s largest environmental disasters.

The Xatsull First Nation has filed a petition in B.C. Supreme Court requesting a judicial review of the government’s decision to approve the raising of the dam by four metres without “meaningful” conversations with the nation.

Chief Rhonda Phillips told a news conference in front of Vancouver’s courthouse on Tuesday that the province is allowing work at the Mount Polley tailing dam to proceed without an environmental assessment.

“The Xatsull people have lived in what is now called the Cariboo region of British Columbia since time immemorial,” Phillips said. “We have always been there, and our continuous occupation of that land must be respected and honoured.

“And this is not just about Xatsull. This is about all First Nations who have watched decisions being made about our lands without our voices.”

The B.C. government says it “cannot comment on matters that are before the courts.”

In August 2014, a tailings dam at the open-pit gold and copper mine in B.C.’s Cariboo region collapsed, spilling waste into nearby waterways, a disaster the Xatsull said has devastated its territory and is “still harming the nation’s rights, culture and way of life.”

Changes were made in 2016 on how tailing ponds in the province are regulated following two reviews, and the B.C. government said the proposed dam height increase from 60 to 64 metres meets all the new requirements.

The province said in March that its decision to approve the addition to the dam was informed by the Environmental Assessment Office, and both Environment Minister Tamara Davidson and Mines Minister Jagrup Brar are satisfied with the assessment on possible safety issues.

The statement also said that a spill similar to the one that happened in 2014 at Mount Polley can never happen again, and the extra height for the dam is to make sure spring runoff can be safely managed.

The province also said that the approval came after comprehensive technical reviews by experts, as well as consultations with First Nations.

Phillips, however, said that “meaningful change has not come” despite the new provincial promises and guidelines after the 2014 spill.

“Instead of investing in safer alternatives like dry stack tailings, the government continues to approve expansions of risky storage methods,” she said. “Their enforcement is inconsistent. Their consultation is inadequate. The province claims to be committed to reconciliation, but action speaks louder than words.”

When asked about the conversations the nation has had with the provincial government, Phillips confirmed that they did take place but were again “not meaningful” in representing the Xatsull in deciding what happens at Mount Polley’s tailing operations.

“It’s about checking a box for them,” Phillips said of the province’s effort to consult First Nations.

“It takes us being at the table, being part of the decisions. No longer can things keep happening without us. We need to make sure that we’re at the table and we’re part of those discussions.”

Phillips also said her nation will be seeking a court injunction that would prevent the raising of the dam while the court process for the judicial review is underway.

This report by Chuck Chiang, The Canadian Press, was first published April 15, 2025.