I see that the Taseko Gold Mine folks in Williams Lake had to come up with 15 alternatives for disposal of mine waste before they found one that “might” work, one that “wouldn’t pollute the ground water and nearby streams.”

It seems that highly toxic tailings seep down and out until they hit an aquifer to ride along in.

Wait a minute! The Ajax mine would be only a few hundred metres from a pretty important aquifer, the Thompson rivers. I wonder if the aquifers under the mine would flow in that direction?

Again, the Taseko people have hit the nail on the head, “Concentrating the effect of the project into a single watershed allows for greater control and contain- ment of mine water and waste by limiting the number of pathways to the greater receiving environment and lessening the overall environmental liability upon mine closure.”

Anybody think that the underground streams in Aberdeen head away from the Thompson River? Hands up, anyone who thinks that poisoning the entire sockeye run at Kamloops is a good idea?

Remember, the mine is projected (according to the Taseko mine) to use 40,000 gallons of water a minute to process ore and dampen dust, all from the Thompson. Water doesn’t run uphill.

Wait a minute! At 40,000 gallons a minute, there won’t be any river south of Kamloops. Trickles don’t count.
Salmon don’t do trickles.

JAMES FANKHAUSER

Kamloops

EDITOR’S NOTE: The proposed mine site at Jacko Lake is nine kilometres south of the Thompson River.