The U.S. State Department and Global Affairs Canada will meet with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and the Ktunaxa Nation on Nov. 9.
The meeting aims to address selenium pollution coming from Teck Recourses’ coal mining operations along the Elk River. The Elk River flows into Lake Koocanusa and the Kootenai River in Montana. Selenium pollution is known to harm fish reproduction.
The tribes want the issue to be settled by the International Joint Commission, which handles trans-boundary water disputes between the U.S. and Canada.
CSKT Chairman Tom McDonald hopes IJC involvement would eventually lead to the closure of Teck’s mines.
“We would want to make sure that they’re going to immediately cease and desist from their actions that are causing an increase in pollution,” he says.
The U.S. State Department has long said it supports IJC involvement. Global Affairs Canada in a statement did not say whether it supports the move.
The meeting comes after President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a deal to address selenium pollution would come by summer’s end.
McDonald says it’s possible that a deal could be struck at this month’s meeting.
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USGS/https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2020/1098/ofr20201098.pdfThe Montana Department of Justice is blocking access to what it calls privileged documents showing its communication with a Canadian mining company. An environmental group is now suing to access the information. -
Aaron BoltonA new report says a Canadian company that runs coal mines north of Montana hasn’t set enough money aside for cleanup. Those mines are sending pollution into Montana waters. -
Aaron BoltonAfter years of tribes calling on the U.S. and Canada to do something about selenium pollution flowing into Montana, the two governments have struck a deal. An international body will make recommendations on how to settle the boundary-water dispute.
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The U.S. and Canada have struck a deal over pollution flowing from British Columbia coal mines into a lake and river system in Montana. -
Environ. Sci. Technol. 2023, 57, 45, 17465-17480A new study finds that Canadian coal mines contribute nearly all of the selenium found in Lake Koocanusa. For decades, coal mines along British Columbia’s Elk River have sent large amounts of selenium into Lake Koocanusa in northwest Montana. -
USGS/https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2020/1098/ofr20201098.pdfConservation groups filed lawsuits Thursday challenging a state board’s assertion that it overturned a pollution standard for Lake Koocanusa.
