Elk Valley Environmental Monitoring Committee 2015 Public Report Elk Valley Environmental Monitoring Committee 2015 Public Report Table of Contents Glossary . 3 Abbreviations . 4 Overview of Environmental Monitoring Committee Public Report . 5 1. Introduction 1.1. Elk Valley Permit, Area Based Management Plan & Environmental Monitoring Committee 1.2. About the EMC . 5 1.2.1. Membership . 5 1.2.2. Role . 6 1.2.3. EMC Activities in 2015 . 6 1.2.4. EMC Next Steps . 7 1.3. Mining and Water Quality in the Elk Valley .. 8 2. EMC Activities 2.1. Surface Water Monitoring . 10 2.2. Toxicity Testing . 14 2.3. Tributary Evaluation . 14 2.4. Aquatic Effects Monitoring . 15 2.5. Lake Koocanusa Monitoring . 16 2.6. Elk Valley Groundwater Monitoring . 16 2.7. Human Health Risk Assessment . 17 2.8. Calcite Monitoring . .17 2.9. Adaptive Management Plan . 20 2.10. Third Party Audit . 20 2.11. Re-evaluation of Harmer Compliance Point Limits .. 21 2.12. Water Quality Modelling . 21 3. Conclusion . 21 Appendix A: EMC Advice Table Appendix B: EMC Terms of Reference to April 2016 2 Glossary Active water treatment: A method of removing constituents of concern from water that requires regular and/or frequent human intervention and management . Acute toxicity: The adverse effects of a substance on an organism that result either from a single exposure or from multiple exposures in a short space of time . Adaptive management: A systematic process for learning from management actions to confirm that a plan’s objectives are being met and to adjust and improve management actions during implementation . Benthic invertebrates: Organisms that live in or on the bottom sediments of rivers, streams and lakes, including some aquatic insect species . Bioaccumulation: The accumulation of substances, including both toxic and benign substances, within the tissues of an organism . Biological treatment: A method of treating water through the use of organisms such as bacteria and other microfauna . Bryophytes: Seedless plants (e g. ,. moss) that play a vital role in regulating ecosystems . Calcite: A mineral composed of calcium, carbon and oxygen . Calcite used in this assessment is from the carbonate class of minerals, and has the chemical formula CaCO3 . Chronic toxicity: Adverse effects on an organism as a result of long term exposure to a toxicant or other stressor . Compliance point: An effluent monitoring location specified in the EMA permit at which discharge limits apply . Constituents of interest: An element or ionic compound that may pose a threat to ecological or human health when present at sufficient concentrations . Designated Area: A portion of southeastern British Columbia that contains the Elk Valley and is geographically defined by the Order . Effect benchmark: A concentration of a constituent in tissue that has been shown to produce effects on an organism . Groundwater: That part of the subsurface water that occurs beneath the water table, in soils and geologic formations . Larval Life Stage: Newly hatched, and not fully developed stage animals . Normally there is a fundamental change in form that is required to get from a larval form to an adult form . Management unit: A portion of the Designated Area specified for water quality management purposes . Order (the): A directive issued by the BC Minister of Environment in April 2013 requiring Teck to develop an Area Based Management Plan (also known as the Elk Valley Water Quality Plan) . Order station: A monitoring location specified by the Order to monitor water quality in the Designated Area . Periphyton: Algae, bacteria and other associated microorganisms attached to a submerged surface . Productivity: A technical term for the amount of plant or animal matter that is grows in a year on a per unit area (i e. ,. a square meter) basis . Reference stream: A watercourse that is not affected by point sources of contamination; used to compare the effects of mining activity on constituents of interest and calcite formation . Site performance objective: An authorization limit or standard, applicable to the receiving environment and imposed by the statutory decision maker (e g. ,. MoE Director) that may be an adopted guideline or site specific water quality objective, or another limit set by the statutory decision maker after weighing multiple factors . Toxicity test: A test to determine how a certain concentration of a constituent—selenium, nitrate, sulphate and cadmium—affects the survival and reproduction of a specific species . Water quality guideline: The concentration of a constituent of concern developed to protect ecological or human health; may be federal or provincial . 3 | EMC Public Report Abbreviations ABMP Area Based Management Plan (also known as the Elk Valley Water Quality Plan) AMP Adaptive Management Plan AWTF Active Water Treatment Facility CMO Coal Mountain Operations EMA Environmental Management Act EMC Environmental Monitoring Committee EVO Elkview Operations FRO Fording River Operations GHO Greenhills Operations HHRA Human Health Risk Assessment MoE BC Ministry of Environment MEM BC Ministry of Energy and Mines KNC Ktunaxa Nation Council LAEMP Local Aquatic Effects Monitoring Program LCO Line Creek Operations R&D Research and Development RAEMP Regional Aquatic Effects Monitoring Program RGMP Regional Groundwater Monitoring Program TEP Tributary Evaluation Program TMP Tributary Management Plan WQG Water Quality Guideline 4 Overview of Environmental Monitoring Committee Public Report In April 2013, the BC Minister of Environment (MoE) under The 2015 Elk Valley EMC open house is scheduled for Section 89 of the Environmental Management Act (EMA) October 27, 2015, from 4 – 9 p .m . at the Park Place Lodge of BC issued Ministerial Order No . M113 (the Order) to in Fernie . Teck requiring that the company prepare an Area Based Management Plan (ABMP) for the Elk Valley to remediate 1. Introduction water quality effects of past coal mining activities and to guide future development . 1.1. Elk Valley Permit, Area Based Management Plan & Environmental Monitoring Committee The Order was initiated as a result of evidence of increasing To address water quality challenges related to mining, concentrations of selenium, cadmium, nitrate and sulphate in April 2013, the BC Ministry of Environment (MoE) in watercourses in the Elk Valley, as well as evidence of directed Teck to develop an Area Based Management Plan calcite formation in some of these watercourses . These (ABMP), available at www teckelkvalley. com. and the MoE issues are largely associated with historical and current Mining and Smelting website . The goal of the ABMP is to mining activity, and in particular, leaching from waste stabilize and reduce increasing selenium and nitrate water rock dumps . By addressing water quality effects of mining concentrations, as well as cadmium and sulphate levels and activities, the Order was intended to create a path forward calcite formation associated with historical and current for mining development in the area that ensures the mining activity (See Section 1 .3 of this report) . protection of ecological and human health while taking into account socio-economic factors . Subsequently, an Environmental Management Act (EMA) permit (the permit) was issued authorizing continued water In July 2014, Teck submitted the ABMP, also known as the discharges from Teck’s Elk Valley operations . The permit Elk Valley Water Quality Plan, to the MoE as required by the directed the formation of an Environmental Monitoring Order . Following approval of the ABMP by the MoE, an EMA Committee (EMC) to review monitoring and reporting permit (107517) was issued in November 2014 authorizing submissions required under the permit and provide effluent discharges from Teck’s steelmaking coal operations technical advice to Teck and the MoE Director . (See Section in the Elk Valley . 2 of this report ). One requirement of the permit was the formation of In its Terms of Reference (see Appendix B), the EMC an Environmental Monitoring Committee (EMC)—that committed to provide the public with an annual plain- will be active throughout mine operations as required language report—the report you are reading—to by the EMA permit—to review monitoring submissions communicate the results of monitoring undertaken under required under the permit in order to provide technical and the permit, the status of the implementation of activities and 1 Traditional Knowledge advice and improve technical aquatic commitments under the ABMP, and an appendix listing all monitoring submissions to the Director . The first EMC non-confidential recommendations made by the committee . meeting was held on March 10, 2015 . 1.2. About the Environmental Monitoring Committee The public report you are reading is an annual deliverable listed in the EMC Terms of Reference (See Appendix B) . Its The EMC Terms of Reference—developed in April 2015— purpose is to summarize the information reviewed by the describes scope, membership, goals and objectives and EMC on a yearly basis and provide an update on EMC- other roles and responsibilities of the EMC until such time reviewed programs and studies . as the Terms of Reference are revised . Where available, results of EMC-reviewed monitoring 1.2.1. Membership programs have been summarized . Where results are not yet The EMC is made up of the following representatives from available, a summary of activity to date has been provided . government, industry, academia and First Nations: Advice and input provided by members of the EMC to date in 2015 and how this has been considered by Teck is •BC Ministry of Environment (MoE) summarized in Appendix A of this report . •BC Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) In conjunction with the release of the report, a public open •Ktunaxa Nation Council (KNC) house will be held each year where members of the EMC •Teck and Teck representatives will discuss information reviewed by the EMC and answer questions . •Interior Health Authority •Independent scientist 1Traditional Knowledge (TK) refers to knowledge, skills and practices that are developed, sustained and passed on from generation to generation within a community, often forming part of its cultural or spiritual identity .