(OTTAWA) - The Green Party of Canada condemns the approval of the Red Chris Mine. The controversial project threatens rare species and critical ecosystems.
The Green Party at the federal level notes that it is another example of the Conservative administration of Stephen Harper failing to build strong relationships with our closest neighbour and largest trading partner.
“The Alaskan wild salmon and tourism sectors are multi-billion dollar industries that would be decimated by a tailings spill. These concerns have been directly conveyed by U.S. officials to both the B.C. Government and Stephen Harper, but they appear to have fallen on deaf ears,” said Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party of Canada and MP (Saanich – Gulf Islands). “This mine is a reckless decision that will endanger the environment and the economy of our neighbours.”
The B.C. Government issued a full permit to Imperial Metals (who also owns the Mount Polley Copper Mine) to operate the Red Chris gold and copper mine on June 21, 2015. The mine is located approximately 130 kilometres from the Alaskan border. Several First Nations communities, as well as major Alaskan water bodies, are located downstream of the mine’s tailings sites.
“As we saw with the Mount Polley disaster last summer, tailings technology is far from perfect. A spill at Red Chris would be far more damaging than the Mount Polley spill due to local geological characteristics.” concluded Ms. May. “The federal government should be more engaged in the interests of strong Canada-US relations.”
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For additional information or to arrange an interview, contact:
Julian Morelli
Director of Communications
Green Party of Canada
cell: (613) 614 4916
office: (613) 562 4916 (224)
[email protected]