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Application for a permit under the provisions of the Environmental Management Act.
Blue Pearl Mining Inc., 1260 King Street, Smithers, BC V0J 2N0, intends to submit this application to the Director to authorize the discharge of the following:
1. Water flowing from the existing Davidson 1066 Adit (historical discharge), to Glacier Gulch Creek;
2. Storm runoff from a sedimentation pond to a tributary of Kathlyn Creek; and
3. Combined effluent from a mine water treatment facility and sewage treatment facility to the Bulkley River.
The sources of discharge are:
1. Groundwater discharging from the existing underground workings (temporarily, until the mine water treatment facility is constructed);
2. Storm runoff from non-operational areas of the site; and
3. Groundwater from the underground mine (1066 Adit and new 700 Adit), surface storm water runoff from the operational area, and sewage water from onsite washroom and shower facilities.
The operating period for discharges from the 1066 Adit and the water treatment facility will be 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. The sedimentation pond will collect storm runoff, therefore discharge from the pond will be intermittent, and will depend on day-to-day weather conditions
The sedimentation pond will treat for suspended solids through passive settling. Absorbent booms will also be used to remove any residual hydrocarbons that may be present in the storm runoff.
The main water treatment facility will incorporate treatment for total suspended solids by flocculent-assisted clarification, ammonia by air stripping, and dissolved arsenic and molybdenum by a ferric oxide/ferric hydroxide co-precipitation-adsorption process.
Sewage will be treated in a commercially available package sewage treatment facility. Based on the criteria outlined in Schedule 3 of Municipal Sewage Regulation, the facility will be designed to meet BOD5 of 45 mg/L and TSS of 45 mg/L.
The proposed end-of-pipe criteria for these sources of discharge are as follows:
1066 Adit (temporary) – flow: 13.9 L/s; pH: 6.5 to 8.5; TSS 75; arsenic (dissolved): 1; cadmium (dissolved): 0.1; chromium (dissolved): 0.0047; copper (dissolved): 0.3; iron (dissolved): 0.18; molybdenum (dissolved): 5.
Storm Runoff – flow: 25 1 L/s; TSS: 30.
Water Treatment Facility – flow: 62 L/s; pH: 6.5 to 8.5; TSS: 15; ammonia: 10; arsenic (dissolved): 0.05; copper (dissolved): 0.03; molybdenum (dissolved): 0.25; zinc (dissolved): 0.2.
1 value dependant of detailed engineering
Any person who may be adversely affected by the proposed effluent discharge and wishes to provide relevant information may, within 30 days of this notice (by November 21, 2008), send written comments to the applicant, with a copy to the Regional Manager, Environmental Protection, at the Skeena Regional Office, 3726 Alfred Avenue (Bag 5000), Smithers, BC V0J 2N0. The identity of any respondent and the contents of anything submitted in relation to this application will become part of the public record.
A copy of the application can be downloaded from the Environmental Assessment Office website (www.eao.gov.bc.ca; link to the Davidson Project via the Project Information Centre). A hard copy is also available at the Smithers Library.
Dated this 17th day of October 2008.
Contact person: Randy MacGillivray, VP Environmental Affairs, telephone 250 877-6121. [oc30]