3 September 2025, 3:27pm EDT

Xatśūll First Nation files appeal to overturn recent decision of B.C. Supreme Court regarding Mount Polley Mine dam raise

British Columbia Environment Environmental Assessment Indigenous Rights Waste Rock and Tailings
Source:
Xatśūll First Nation

The BCSC decision upholds authorizations by the B.C. Government to allow Mount Polley to raise its tailings storage facility dam without an environmental assessment

XATŚŪLL FIRST NATION TERRITORY, B.C.; 3 September 2025: Today, Xatśūll First Nation filed an appeal with the B.C. Court of Appeal to overturn an August 6, 2025 decision of the B.C. Supreme Court (BCSC). The BCSC decision upheld Provincial authorizations allowing Mount Polley Mining Corporation to raise the height of its tailings storage facility dam at the Mount Polley Mine without an environmental assessment first being conducted. This is the same dam that failed catastrophically in 2014, devastating Xatśūll Territory in one of the worst mining disasters in Canadian history.

The respectful view of Xatśūll is that the BCSC decision allows provincial regulators to proceed in a way that seriously limits the level of environmental oversight and protection of Aboriginal rights and title when it comes to deciding whether the Province will approve future expansions to the Mount Polley Mine.

“The precedent of the August 6th ruling needs to be set right,” said Kukpi7 Rhonda Phillips, Xatśūll First Nation. “The Mount Polley Mine needs to be held to 2025 standards for environmental oversight and Aboriginal rights protection, not to more limited standards from nearly 40 years ago, which is the effect of the ruling. This is particularly important given the history of the mine’s impacts on our Territory and Mount Polley’s plans to expand further.”

Correcting the BCSC’s decision is an important step toward ensuring the Province regulates the Mount Polley Mine in a way that is sufficiently protective of the environment and that respects Xatśūll’s Aboriginal rights and title now and into the future.

As this matter is before the courts, Xatśūll has no further comment at this time.

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Xatśūll First Nation is a First Nations government and is part of the larger Secwepemc (Shuswap) Nation, located in the Cariboo region of British Columbia near Williams Lake. Learn more on Xatśūll First Nation’s website.