Downstream Geomorphic Response of the 2014 Mount Polley Tailings Dam Failure, British ColumbiaOpen image in new window

  • Vanessa Cuervo
  • Leif Burge
  • Hawley Beaugrand
  • Megan Hendershot
  • Stephen G. Evans
Conference paper
First Online:

Abstract

On August 4, 2014, the failure of the Tailings Storage Facility dam at the Mount Polley copper and gold mine in British Columbia (Canada) produced a dynamic and complex geomorphic response downstream. The dam breach was caused by rotational sliding of the embankment due to foundation failure, resulting in sudden loss of containment of water and tailings. The released volume was estimated to be 25 Mm3. The resulting flow traveled approximately 9 km down the Hazeltine Creek valley over a vertical elevation of 205 m. The August 2014 event is the largest tailings dam failure recorded in Canada and the second largest recorded globally in the last decade. This investigation documents and analyzes the general downstream geomorphic response of the event in the Hazeltine Creek channel and floodplain. It utilizes an integrated approach of geomorphological mapping, topographic analysis, historical aerial photograph analysis, and field surveys to identify and quantify the geomorphic impacts of the event. Overall results indicate that these impacts are significant and comparable to those resulting from extreme debris flow and outburst flood events in mountainous environments in Canada and worldwide.

Keywords

Tailings dam failure Flow failure Debris flows Outburst flood Geomorphic impacts Hazard and risk 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Notes

Acknowledgements

We thank Imperial Metals for providing pre- and post-event data. The interpretation of the data represents the views of the authors. We also thank Cory McGregor for field work support.

References

  1. Alonso EE, Gens A (2006) Aznalcóllar dam failure. Part 1: Field observations and material properties. Géotechnique 56(3):165–183. doi: 10.1680/geot.2006.56.3.165
  2. Benito G, Benito-Calvo A, Gallart F et al (2001) Hydrological and geomorphological criteria to evaluate the dispersion risk of waste sludge generated by the Aznalcóllar mine spill (SW Spain). Environ Geol 40(4):417–428. doi: 10.1007/s002540000230 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. Bichler AJ, Bobrowsky PT (2003) Quaternary geology of the Hydraulic map sheet NTS 93/A12 British Columbia 1:50,000 (British Columbia): NTS 93/A12Google Scholar
  4. Blight GE (1997) Destructive mudflows as a consequence of tailings dyke failures. In: Anonymous Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers–Geotechnical engineering, January 9–18, vol 125. Telford, London, ROYAUME-UNI (1994) (Revue), pp 9–18Google Scholar
  5. Blight GE, Fourie AB (2005) Catastrophe revisited–disastrous flow failures of mine and municipal solid waste. Geotech Geol Eng 23(3):219–248. doi: 10.1007/s10706-004-7067-y
  6. Burge L, Cuervo V (2015) Technical appendices. Appendix A: hydrotechnical and geomorphological impact assessment. In: Golder Associates Ltd. on behalf of Mount Polley Mining Corporation. Post event environmental impact assessment report (PEEIAR), Golder Associates Ltd., Vancouver, BCGoogle Scholar
  7. Cathro MS, Lane RA, Shives RB et al (2003) Airborne multisensor geophysical surveys in the Central Quesnel Mineral Belt (93A/5, 6, 12). British Columbia Geological Survey Bulletin 185, Victoria, British ColumbiaGoogle Scholar
  8. Cenderelli DA, Wohl EE (2001) Peak discharge estimates of glacial-lake outburst floods and “normal” climatic floods in the Mount Everest region, Nepal. Geomorphology 40(1):57–90. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0169-555X(01)00037-X
  9. Chandler RJ, Tosatti G (1996) The Stava tailings dam failure, Italy, July 1985. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci Geomech Abs 33(1):35AGoogle Scholar
  10. Clague J (1991) Quaternary stratigraphy and history of Quesnel and Cariboo river valleys, British Columbia: implications for placer gold exploration. In: Anonymous current research, Part A, Paper 91-lA edn. Geological survey of Canada, pp 1–5Google Scholar
  11. Clague J, Evans SG (1994) Formation and failure of natural dams in the Canadian Cordillera. Geol Surv Can Bull 464Google Scholar
  12. Clague JJ, Evans SG (2000) A review of catastrophic drainage of moraine-dammed lakes in British Columbia. Quat Sci Rev 19(17):1763–1783. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0277-3791(00)00090-1
  13. Costa JE, Schuster RL (1988) Formation and failure of natural dams. Geol Soc Am Bull 100(7):1054–1068CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  14. Davies MP (2001) Impounded mine tailings: what are the failures telling us? CIM Distinguished Lecture 2000–2001. The Canadian Mining and Metallurgical Bulletin 94(1052):53–59Google Scholar
  15. Demarchi DA (2011) The British Columbia ecoregion classification, 3rd edn. Ecosystem Information Section. Ministry of Environment, Victoria, British ColumbiaGoogle Scholar
  16. Desloges JR, Church M (1992) Geomorphic implications of glacier outburst flooding: Noeick River valley, British Columbia. Can J Earth Sci 29(3):551–564. doi: 10.1139/e92-048 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. Evans SG (1986) The maximum discharge of outburst floods caused by the breaching of man-made and natural dams. Can Geotech J 23(3):385–387. doi: 10.1139/t86-053 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. Gallart F, Benito G, Martı́n-Vide JP et al (1999) Fluvial geomorphology and hydrology in the dispersal and fate of pyrite mud particles released by the Aznalcóllar mine tailings spill. Sci Total Environ 242(1–3):13–26. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0048-9697(99)00373-3
  19. Golder Associates Ltd. on Behalf of Mount Polley Mining Corporation (2015) Post event environmental impact assessment Report (PEEIAR). Vancouver, BCGoogle Scholar
  20. Hashmi S, Ward BC, Plouffe A et al (2015) Geochemical and mineralogical dispersal in till from the Mount Polley Cu-Au porphyry deposit, central British Columbia, Canada. Geochem: Explor Environ Anal 15(2–3):234Google Scholar
  21. Hungr O, Evans SG, Bovis MJ et al (2001) A review of the classification of landslides of the flow type. Environ Eng Geosci 7(3):221CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  22. ICOLD–UNEP (2001) Tailings dams—risk of dangerous occurrences, lessons learned from practical experiences. Bull 121Google Scholar
  23. Knight Piésold Ltd. (2009a) Assessment of Hazeltine Creek flows. Consultant report prepared for Mount Polley Mining CorporationGoogle Scholar
  24. Knight Piésold Ltd. (2009b) Recommended maximum discharges from the Mount Polley TSF to Hazeltine Creek. Consultant report prepared for Mount Polley Mining CorporationGoogle Scholar
  25. Luino F, De Graff JV (2012) The Stava mudflow of 19 July 1985 (Northern Italy): a disaster that effective regulation might have prevented. Nat Hazards Earth Syst Sci 12(4):1029–1044. doi: 10.5194/nhess-12-1029-2012 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  26. Minnow Environmental Inc. (2007) Hazeltine Creek Habitat Characterization. Consultant report prepared for Mount Polley Mining CorporationGoogle Scholar
  27. Minnow Environmental Inc. (2012) Mount Polley Mine Supplemental Aquatic Monitoring—2011. Consultant report prepared for Mount Polley Mining CorporationGoogle Scholar
  28. Mount Polley Independent Expert Engineering Investigation and Review Panel (2015) Report on Mount Polley Tailings Storage Facility BreachGoogle Scholar
  29. Pedersen R (1998) Overview report–Quesnel river study area–fish habitat assessment procedure. Victoria: Carmanah Research Ltd. Report prepared for Weldwood of Canada LtdGoogle Scholar
  30. Potts D, Rogers J, Mathieu J et al (2015) Technical appendices. Appendix B: bathymetry analysis and volume balance. In: Golder associates Ltd. on behalf of Mount Polley Mining Corporation. Post event environmental impact assessment report (PEEIAR), Golder Associates Ltd., Vancouver, BCGoogle Scholar
  31. Rico M, Benito G, Díez-Herrero A (2008) Floods from tailings dam failures. J Hazard Mater 154(1–3):79–87. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2007.09.110
  32. Rico M, Benito G, Salgueiro AR et al (2008) Reported tailings dam failures: a review of the European incidents in the worldwide context. J Hazard Mater 152(2):846–852. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2007.07.050
  33. SAMARCO (2016) Fundão dam collapse SAMARCO: http://www.samarco.com/en/balanco/
  34. Sammarco O (1999) Impacts of tailings flow slides. Mine Water Environ 18(1):75–80. doi: 10.1007/BF02687251
  35. Sammarco O (2004) A tragic disaster caused by the failure of tailings dams leads to the formation of the Stava 1985 Foundation. Mine Water Environ 23(2):91–95. doi: 10.1007/s10230-004-0045-z
  36. Villavicencio G, Espinace R, Palma J et al (2014) Failures of sand tailings dams in a highly seismic country. Can Geotech J 51(4):449–464. doi: 10.1139/cgj-2013-0142
  37. WISE UP (2016, August 17) Chronology of major tailings dam failures. http://www.wise-uranium.org/mdaf.html. Accessed 18 Aug 2016

Copyright information

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017

Authors and Affiliations

  • Vanessa Cuervo
    • 1
    • 2
  • Leif Burge
    • 3
    • 4
  • Hawley Beaugrand
    • 1
  • Megan Hendershot
    • 1
  • Stephen G. Evans
    • 2
  1. 1.Environment and Geoscience InfrastructureSNC-Lavalin IncCalgaryCanada
  2. 2.Department of Earth & Environmental SciencesUniversity of WaterlooWaterlooCanada
  3. 3.Stantec Consulting LtdKelownaCanada
  4. 4.Geography & Earth and Environmental ScienceOkanagan CollegeKelownaCanada

Personalised recommendations