Mount Polley mining disaster caused major changes to ecosystem – study – Mining.com

May 6, 2015

Nine months after Canada’s Mount Polley copper and gold mine’s tailings pond breach, a new report has found a number of changes in the local ecosystem caused by the massive spill.

Researchers from the University of Northern British Columbia and the University of B.C., who studied the sediment plume of waste and water within Quesnel Lake in the three months following the incident, have concluded the water reservoir’s ecosystem has changed.

Among other anomalies, the report quotes a rise in the lake’s water level of 7.7 centimetres between Aug 4 and Oct 4, 2014, with the temperature at the bottom of the lake climbing from 1 to 2.5 degrees Celsius.

It also found higher levels of sediment — associated with an increase in turbidity in the lake.

Read More: http://www.mining.com/mount-polley-mining-disaster-cause-major-changes-to-ecosystem-study/