Mount Polley boss says 2014 B.C. mine spill not toxic as firm faces fisheries charges

The president of the company involved in the Mount Polley environmental disaster that poured millions of cubic metres of mine tailings into B.C. waterways 10 years ago says the material spilled wasn’t toxic.Imperial Metals Corp. and two other firms were charged last month with 15 alleged Fisheries Act breaches, accused of allowing a “deleterious substance” from the mine’s tailings pond into several bodies of water.But Imperial Metals president Brian Kynoch says the mine tailings were “benign,” and the breach released traces of elements like copper and arsenic that are naturally occurring.