South Island Resource Management has announced that the unknown substance found last week at the Stebbings Road site in Shawnigan Lake was dye.
In a Jan. 18 release SIRM said results came from a laboratory certified by the Canadian Association for Laboratory Accreditation. The results of testing on the substance, dumped in a case of suspected vandalism at a Shawnigan mine, are “consistent with marking dye. The testing was on an unknown substance dumped by vandals on the mine site at 460 Stebbings Rd., Shawnigan Lake, B.C. on Jan. 11, 2016. Testing indicated the undiluted chemical exceeded water quality for standards for copper. There is no readily available laboratory test to definitively identify specific commercial products.”
SIRM also said the material dumped on the site was subject to a full spill response as an unknown contaminant.
“Crews will dispose of the liquid residues off-site at a permitted treatment system in order to manage potential toxicity of concentrated dye and to eliminate nuisance related to visible dye in surface water and soil,” the release continued.
Finally, “an individual recently approached South Island Resource Management with information that may or may not be related to the incident. The company instructed the individual to contact the RCMP,” the company concluded.
In another statement released the same day, SIRM said, “Over the next few days crews will be installing a housing over a secondary water treatment plant. The housing is designed to protect the equipment from the elements. The trusses arrive this Wednesday and construction will commence shortly thereafter.”