Fish Lake

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) announced in November 2011 that it would review a second proposal from Taseko Mines Ltd. for a Fish Lake gold and copper mine.

Taseko Mines Ltd’s original proposal for a gold and copper mine near Williams Lake was rejected in 2010 by then federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice, following a scathing environmental assessment that concluded the mine would cause irreparable damage to First Nations rights, as well as to fish stocks and at-risk grizzly populations.

“This repackaged proposal would be even more environmentally destructive than the original proposal, according to Taseko’s own statements,” said Sierra Club BC Executive Director George Heyman after the November 2011 decision. “There is something seriously wrong with our assessment process when a company like Taseko can simply re-submit a mining proposal after it has been soundly rejected. It would be a far better use of time and money to focus on mining proposals that are more environmentally appropriate and have the support of First Nations.”

Taseko’s revised project avoids draining picturesque Fish Lake, home to 80,000 rainbow trout and once featured on a B.C. tourism brochure. Instead, Fish Lake would be surrounded by the proposed open-pit mine and unusable for the life of the mine (up to 33 years). Little Fish Lake, which is crucial to the ecosystem that supports the unique trout population, would be destroyed.

The proposed mine is on the traditional lands of the Xeni Gwet’in First Nation, a member of the Tsilhqot’in National Government, which won a court case recognizing its rights to the area and is staunchly opposed to the mine. Read Chief Marilyn Baptiste's letter in the Vancouver Sun.