The proposed Ruddock Creek Lead Zinc project, led by Imperial Metals in the Adams River watershed is a great opportunity. It is a chance to rethink how we frame the questions around projects like this. We can move beyond just making sure Imperial Metals has checked all the boxes and that their operation will meet B.C.’s “standards.”
This is a chance to ask if, as a community, we really want a mine at the glacial source of our water. We can ask if a company that is responsible for spilling 4.5 million cubic metres of mercury-filled slurry into Quesnel Lake from Mt. Polley should be trusted. We can ask if it is worth risking the heath of the sockeye or if it is ever appropriate to turn an alpine lake into a tailings pond. With the recent spill in Canoe, we have seen how much we depend on the water around us and also how quickly it can be declared “unsafe.”
The proposed mine at Ruddock Creek is also an opportunity to listen. The Secwepemc community at Neskonlith, on who’s unceded traditional territory the mine would sit, have vehemently rejected the project. There have been tireless grassroots efforts from within the community to raise awareness about this proposal and hold Imperial Metals accountable after the Mt. Polley spill. The company was also served an eviction notice, which called on them to leave the Ruddock Creek area, by Chief Judy Wilson at the direction of community elders. So, to all reading who are not indigenous to this land, this is an opportunity to listen, to really think about what it means to live on Secwepemc territory. Efforts can be made here at a local level, to alter a relationship, which at a national level has been based on both violent and structural dispossession. It is a chance to work in meaningful solidarity with our neighbours who have been looking after this land for thousands of years.
So, let’s take this opportunity to recognize the value of clean water, respect this place we all cherish and take a stand against Imperial Metals.
Mitchell Ward