Province halts private prosecution against Mount Polley tailings spill

The B.C. Prosecution Service announced Tuesdayit will notpursueprivate charges in the 2014 collapse of the tailings dam at the Mount Polley mine.

The charges were filed by Indigenous woman Bev Sellars days after British Columbia's government announced thatprovincial charges would not be laid.

• BevSellars says private charges her 'sacred responsibility'

On August 4, 2017, Bev Sellars swore a privateInformation alleging that the Mount Polley Mining Corporation (MPMC) had committedvarious offences contrary to the provincial Environmental Management Act and MinesAct.

The prosecution service says it does not usually permit a private prosecution to proceed. In this situation however it reviewed everything Sellarssubmitted.

"After conductingits review, the BCPS concluded that the material provided does not meet the chargeassessment standard for approval of charges," it said.

Citizens can pursue private prosecution if they believe an offence has been committed, but in B.C., the Crowncan decide not to proceed if it believes there is no reasonable prospect of conviction.

Sellarswas the acting chief of the Xat'sull First Nation, located near the gold and copper mine in B.C.'s Cariboo region, when the dam collapsed on Aug. 4, 2014.

An investigation into the dam's collapse is ongoing by the B.C.'s Conservation Officer Service.

Officials have said that theservice is working with the federal government concerningpossible violations of the Fisheries Act. There isa five-year deadline for charges to be laid.

Two reports, by B.C.'s chief inspector of mines and an independent panel of engineering experts, found the collapse involving the mine operated by Imperial Metals Corp. (TSX:III) was caused by a poorly designed dam that didn't account for drainage and erosion failures.

The Mount Polley mine went back to full operations in 2016.

• No B.C. charges in Mount Polley dam collapse as federal investigations continue

With files from the Canadian Press.