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Originally Posted by kremb
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Thanks. That is interesting, but I'm not sure it does much to address the matter of culpability in this specific case. Correlation does not equal causation, but it would depending upon the answers to the following questions:
· What caused the breach in the Mount Polley mine tailings pond, and was this a direct result of changes made to design standards and codes?
· As near as I can tell, Edwards' contributions could potentially be tied to a change in the development standards that occurred in 2012 for the approval of new mining operations that once took 10 years to as little as three years. Did these changes have a direct impact on the Mount Polley mine, and on the construction and containment procedures for the tailings pond?
It is still a massive reach to connect one event to the other. I agree that Imperial Metals bears an enormous responsibility for the pond breach and the cleanup to follow; I agree that they should also be fined, and that the hopeful result in all of this will be improved industry standards.
What I take issue with is the unsubstantiated notion that the breach was the result of malicious and wilfully ignorant attempts on the part of the mine owners to sidestep regulatory standards in an effort to reduce their operating costs. I take issue with the excessively emotional reactions by some in this thread that have produced irrational attempts to level blame. I take issue with the attempt by some (I'm looking at MarkGio here) to stereotype other posters on the basis of their hesitancy to join the lynch mob, and by extension to shut down what I perceive to be an eminently applicable line of questioning.