Regulatory body wraps up investigation into engineers involved in B.C.'s Mt. Polley mine disaster

Nearly eight years after the largest environmental mining disaster in Canadian history, B.C.'s engineering regulatory and licensing body has wrapped up its investigation into three engineers who were involved.

Engineers and Geoscientists British Columbia (EGBC) brought a collective $226,500 in fines against two engineers involved in the Mount Polley mine disaster who are no longer working in the industry and a brief suspension and required training for a third engineer.

The regulatory and licensing body for the professions of engineering and geoscience in B.C. said on Friday it had concluded its disciplinary proceedings against Stephen Rice, Laura Fidel and Todd Martin, in relation to their work at the Mount Polley Mine in Central B.C.

'Final chapter'

"This marks the final chapter in a long and difficult story for our province and our professions," said Heidi Yang, CEO of EGBC, in a release.

On Aug. 4 2014, there was a breach in the gold and copper mine's tailings storage facility, causing 24 million cubic metres of mine waste to be dumped into Quesnel Lake, Hazeltine Creek and other waterways in the area.

An independent report into the disaster said the dam was built on a sloped glacial lake, weakening its foundation. It said the inadequate design of the dam didn't account for drainage or erosion failures associated with glacial till beneath the pond.

The regulatory body had previously announced in August 2021 disciplinary hearings for former engineer Stephen Rice and engineer Laura Fidel.

The panel found that both Rice and Fidel demonstrated unprofessional conduct in the course of their work at the mine. Rice was censured for not properly overseeing Fidel, the more junior, inexperienced engineer — and allowing Fidel to act as engineer of record for the dam's tailing storage facility.

EGBC reported that a discipline hearing panel had imposed a maximum fine of $25,000 against Rice, who resigned in 2018.

Rice also agreed to pay $107,500 dollars in legal costs to the association and is no longer permitted to practice as a professional engineer in the province.

A separate discipline hearing panel found that Fidel also committed several acts of unprofessional conduct and failed to ensure sufficient observation and monitoring of the tailings dam.

The lack of site visits and monitoring of seepage flows allowed unsafe conditions — the instability of the embankment — to go undetected, according to EGBC.

Fidel also failed to ensure that an excavation left unfilled in the embankment was assessed to ensure stability — and failed to properly review the design drawings.

On Friday, EGBC announced a two-month suspension of Fidel's registration as a professional engineer.

She was also ordered to complete three educational courses relating to tailings management, tailings facility design and operation, and engineering management for mine geowaste facilities.

3rd engineer faces fines

EGBC also announced on Friday fines for a third engineer who worked at the mine, Todd Martin.

It said that from March 2011 to December 2012, Martin was the senior geotechnical engineer responsible for the geotechnical engineering work at the Mount Polley Mine.

During the course of the disciplinary process, he admitted that "aspects of his engineering work were not consistent with prudent engineering practice," related to the stability of the embankment, and that he was unprofessional in some aspects of his conduct related to record-keeping, according to EGBC.

It announced that Martin agreed to pay a $25,000 fine and $69,000 toward the legal costs of EGBC.

It said Martin ceased practising engineering in 2018 and resigned his engineering license in January 2020. He is no longer permitted to practise professional engineering or geoscience in British Columbia, EGBC said.

Crticism of discipline

Ottawa-based MiningWatch Canada, which advocates for environmental and social responsibility in the mining industry, has repeatedly criticized the sanctions and fines related to the disaster as too lenient.

It said the company that owns the Mount Polley mine — Imperial Metals — has faced no discipline from any Canadian governments, and two lawsuits launched to hold the company to account were both quashed.

In 2019, a five-year deadline for federal Fisheries Act charges related to the disaster expired. British Columbia also missed the three-year deadline to proceed with charges under both the province's Environmental Management Act and Mines Act.

EGBC said Friday that the years-long investigation into engineers working at the site had resulted in safety improvements for the industry as a whole.

"The conclusion of these cases, combined with resources we've developed to improve dam safety, will strengthen our professions and our province's environmental safeguards," said Yang.

The province said it also made significant changes to the Mines Act in 2020 so it can better hold companies accountable, including creating a unit to audit mining regulation. 

Imperials Metals said it was preparing to reopen the mine sometime in the next year and was complying with provincial legislation to safely do so.