Following the breach of the tailings storage facility at the Mount Polley Mine on August 4, 2014, the Government of British Columbia, through the Minister of Energy and Mines, together with the Williams Lake Indian Band and the Soda Creek Indian Band, established an independent expert engineering investigation and review panel (the Panel) to investigate and report on that breach.
The purpose of the Panel is as follows:
- To investigate into and report on the cause of the failure of the tailings storage facility (TSF) that occurred on August 4, 2014 at the Mount Polley Mine (the Mine) in B .C .
- In addition, the Panel may make recommendations to government on actions that could be taken to ensure that a similar failure does not occur at other mine sites in B .C .
- The Panel is authorized, as part of its investigation and report, to comment on what actions could have been taken to prevent this failure and to identify practices or successes in other jurisdictions that could be considered for implementation in B.C.
Under its Terms of Reference, it is expected that the Panel will:
- Identify any mechanism(s) of failure of the TSF.
- Identify any technical, management or other practices that may have enabled or contributed to the mechanism(s) of failure. This may include an independent review of the design, construction, operation, maintenance, surveillance and regulation of the TSF.
- Identify any changes that could be considered to reduce the potential for future such occurrences
The Panel Members were:
- •Dr . Norbert R . Morgenstern (Chair), CM, AOE, FRSC, FCAE, Ph .D ., P .Eng . •
- Mr . Steven G . Vick, M .Sc ., P .E .
- Dr . Dirk Van Zyl, Ph .D ., P .E ., P .Eng
