The impact of a catastrophic mine tailings impoundment spill into one of North America's largest fjord lakes: Quesnel Lake, British Columbia, Canada

Abstract

Abstract On 4 August 2014, a catastrophic breach of the Mount Polley mine tailings impoundment released ~25 M m 3 of tailings and water and scoured an unknown quantity of overburden into the West Basin of Quesnel Lake. We document Quesnel Lake and Quesnel River observations for 2 months postspill. Breach inflows raised Quesnel Lake by 7.7 cm, equivalent to ~21 M m 3 . The West Basin hypolimnion was modified immediately, exhibiting increased temperature (~5°C to 6–7.5°C), conductivity (110 to 160 μS/cm), and turbidity (<1 to 200–1000 nephelometric turbidity units (NTU)). Cooscillating seiches moved West Basin hypolimnetic water both westward and eastward contaminating the Main Basin. Postspill, high‐turbidity water propagated eastward (~1 cm/s), introducing a persistent ~20 m thick layer below the thermocline and an ~30 m thick layer at the bottom. The contaminant introduction, mobilization, and bioaccumulation may pose risks to resident and anadromous fish stocks, which support recreational, commercial, and First Nations fisheries.