ELC director Calvin Sandborn says the Jordan River is symptomatic of a much bigger problem — the province’s apparent failure to adequately monitor for similar environmental legacies from the mining industry. This story should serve as a warning for what could occur in the Brooks Range Mountains:

About 70 kilometres west of Victoria B.C., the Jordan River which used to support a healthy Salmon run, has been destroyed by high copper concentrations from an abandoned mine site.  In some cases, concentrations are up to 30 times the maximum allowable standard.

“Salmon runs that supported the original Pacheedaht villages at the river mouth collapsed. Below the mine site with its eroding tailings dumps and litters of rusting debris, the junk-strewn river bottom appears devoid of life…

A report from the auditor general said the government’s regulatory performance has been “highly deficient” and that it is “at risk of regulatory capture” — placing the interests of corporations its supposed to regulate before the public’s interests.”  Read the full article here Stephen Hume: Jordan River salmon wiped out by copper tailings.