The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes joined five other tribes and First Nations in urging Canadian and U.S. leaders to address open-pit coal mining in the Elk Valley of southeast British Columbia.
The tribes, whose territory spans the boundary between the U.S. and Canada, wrote that they initially made this request in October 2012 and alleged that their requests have been “unanswered.”
Teck Resources operates several open-pit coal mines northeast of Fernie, British Columbia, and has plans for more. The company says its coal reserves there won't be exhausted for another 28 years. Teck produces metallurgical coal used in metal smelting, particularly Chinese steel, rather than thermal coal used for heat or power production. The company produces about 27 million metric tons annually. Selenium in mine waste piles leaches into runoff water that then flows into British Columbia's Elk and Fording rivers.
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In a letter to President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, six tribal governments urged the leaders to “act immediately” and “refer the issue of mining impacts on the transboundary waters in the Kootenai(y) River to the International Joint Commission.”
The International Joint Commission (IJC) is a Canadian-American diplomatic office created by the Boundary Waters Treaty to resolve trans-boundary disputes. In May, Global Affairs Canada (roughly equivalent to the U.S. Department of State) refused the request for an IJC reference.
Tribal leaders allege they “are witnessing a violation of Article IV of the Boundary Waters Treaty,” which states that “boundary waters and waters flowing across the international boundary shall not be polluted on either side to the injury of health or property on the other.”
Specifically, tribal leaders allege that selenium, which in certain concentrations can inhibit fish reproduction, and nitrate contaminants from the mines are hurting water quality, fish and other resources in the Elk Valley. Those pollutants travel downstream into Montana, Idaho and the Columbia River.
State, tribal and university studies have found that current levels of selenium flowing from mine runoff into the Kootenai River and Lake Koocanusa are harming fish there. Teck has disputed those findings.
Tribal leaders urge Biden and Trudeau to work with tribal governments on a reference to the commission to “achieve an equitable, just, inclusive and scientifically credible approach to mining pollution across the Kootenai(y) watershed.”
“The time to act is now,” the letter concludes.
In a news release, the tribal leaders said the letter comes as Trudeau hosts an international community for the United Nations Biodiversity Conference.
CSKT Tribal Chairman Tom McDonald noted the hypocrisy.
“How is it that Prime Minister Trudeau and Canada can commit to halting biodiversity loss through real collaboration with Indigenous peoples, and yet completely disregard our plea to act in solidarity for a decade?” he asked. “Is this what honoring Indigenous governments looks like in Canada?”
Reporter Joshua Murdock contributed to this story.