The Coalmont Energy company continues clean-up following a tailing water spill into the Tulameen River on Aug. 24.
(SHANNON QUESNEL / iNFOnews.ca)
September 26, 2013 - 10:43 AM
OSOYOOS - A mining company will pay to scrub the shorelines of Tulameen River following an Aug. 25 spill of 13,000 gallons of tailing water.
The tailing water, mostly made up of coal dust and water, overflowed the coal mine's emergency pond near Collin's Gulch and turned large parts of the river black. The Coalmont Energy company has been working with the province and private contractors to clean the site and prevent a spill from happening again.
Spokesperson Keith Meldrum has said the water is normally contained in the coal mining machinery. It's only removed when the machinery needs repairs.
The coal silt at Collin's Gulch, captured by temporary silt control dams and silt fences will be sucked by vacuum trucks. The majority of the silt is half a kilometre away from Collin's Gulch.
The company has stated the rushing water has already diluted the tailing water and parts of the spill will be left to nature to deal with. Sampling of water, soil and fish will be still be collected and tested until the fall of 2014.
Meldrum expects the mine to resume some operations this week.
To contact a reporter for this story, to send photos or videos, email Shannon Quesnel at squesnel@infotelnews.ca, call 250-488-3065, tweet @shannonquesnel1 or @InfoNewsPentict
News from © iNFOnews, 2013