CCQL
CONCERNED CITIZENS OF QUESNEL LAKE
2016
2018
OUR REASON
This is Hazeltine Creek located 7 km east of the Mount Polley Mine site and these photos were taken two years apart and four years after the disaster. Can you spot the difference?
OUR GROUP, OUR GOAL
We decided to launch an environmental appeal against this permit approval. We started to build a legal strategy. We have received much needed support from West Coast Environmental Law’s Environmental Dispute Resolution Fund (EDRF) and many other organizations. Through the EDRF and other partner organizations we have been provided with funding to retain a private lawyer to assist with the EAB appeal.
OUR WORK
The Mount Polley Mine discharge permit is under appeal by a member of the CCQL, with the goal to stop mine waste discharge into the once pristine Quesnel Lake.
The CCQL team has produced and presented a webinar to High School Students, Community Groups and Environmental and Human Rights Groups on numerous occasions to explain the importance of Quesnel Lake and the surrounding ecosystems.
CCQL Group has supported research projects being done by the Quesnel River Research Centre on the health and the effects of the tailings deposit in the West Arm of Quesnel Lake.
Members of the CCQL sit on the Mount Polley Mine Public Liaison Committee in an effort to ensure that the Mine and the BC Government understand the importance of Quesnel Lake to the surrounding communities.
OUR TEAM
Meet Christine McLean and Judith Pringle – two women from Calgary who first discovered Quesnel Lake two years before the 2014 disaster.
Christine's family bought a home at Mitchell Bay, one of the handful of small communities circling the lakeshore. The lake was to be a wilderness home away from home, a respite from their busy working lives.
Judith remembers her first trip to Mitchell Bay in 2013 as a transformative experience for her and her daughter. She explains, "When we were at Mitchell Bay, we learned to catch and cook our own fish and just how wonderful and special Quesnel Lake is.”
We followed the aftermath of the disaster, but often felt unheard and ignored. We found other like minded residents on Quesnel Lake, who were concerned about the lack of support from the BC Government. We created a simple website and Facebook page using our own materials.
Courtesy of WCEL article