TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The British Columbia government on Thursday tabled proposals to amend the provincial Mines Act to give investigators and Crown Counsel more time to investigate violations under the Act and bring charges if necessary.

Energy and Mines Minister and Minister Responsible for Core Review Bill Bennett tabled the amendment to retrospectively increase the current six-month-to-a-year time limit on the investigation of violations to three years from when the chief inspector of mines first learns of an incident.

“We don’t want to be in a position where time limits prevent investigators and Crown Counsel from doing their jobs. These amendments will ensure there is more time available, if required, for a thorough investigation and [to come to] a decision on whether to pursue charges for offences under the Mines Act,” Bennett said.

He added that the amendment would align the time limit for pursuing charges under the Mines Act with other natural resource legislation such as the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Environmental Management Act.

The amendments to the Mines Act would come into effect on August 1 and would apply to all ongoing investigations, including the investigation into the tailings storage facility breach at Imperial Metals’ Mount Polley mine.

Government was still busy with its investigation, being determined to get to the bottom of what happened at Mount Polley, and was taking all  necessary steps to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigations as well as the ability to prosecute.

In the early hours of August 4, a tailings pond breach occurred at the Mount Polley mine in south-central British Columbia, near the town of Likely, releasing millions of litres of mine waste into the pristine natural environment.

In the wake of Imperial Metals’ Mount Polley mining disaster, the British Columbia government ordered independent third-party reviews of 98 permitted tailings impoundments at 60 operating and closed metal and coal mines in the province.

Under the Health, Safety and Reclamation Code for Mines in British Columbia, the deadline for a normal yearly dam safety inspection would have been March 31, 2015, and would not have required an independent third-party review.

However, the chief inspector of mines accelerated the date for inspections to December 1 and added the requirement for an independent review by a qualified, third-party professional engineer from a firm not associated with the tailings facility.