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VANCOUVER — The Canadian Press – Canadian mining giant Teck Resources Ltd. has admitted in a U.S. court that effluent from its smelter in southeast British Columbia has polluted the Columbia River in Washington state for more than a century.
Teck subsidiary Teck Metals made the admission of fact in a lawsuit brought by a group of American Indian tribes over environmental damage caused by the effluent discharges dating back to 1896.
The agreement, reached on the eve of the trial initiated by the Colville Confederated Tribes, stipulates that some hazardous materials in the slag discharged from Teck’s smelter in Trail, B.C., ended up in the Upper Columbia River south of the border.
Specifically, the company admitted: “Trail discharged solid effluents, or slag, and liquid effluent into the Columbia River that came to rest in Washington state, and from that material, hazardous materials under (U.S. environmental laws) were released into the environment,” Dave Godlewski, vice-president of environment and public affairs for Teck American, said in a telephone interview.
“That’s what we’ve agreed to. We’ve not talked about the amount of the release. We’ve not talked about the impacts of those releases. We’ve just agreed that there has been a release in the U.S.”
For the state Department of Ecology, the admission is a major victory in what has been a long, drawn-out fight.
“It’s very good news for us,” said spokeswoman Jani Gilbert. “It means that everyone is accepting the science… and we’re just closer in the process to getting some resolution of this.”
When Teck American, the U.S. subsidiary of Teck Resources, cleaned up Black Sand Beach two years ago, it hauled away 9,100 tonnes of slag.
The lawsuit brought by the Colville Confederated Tribes claims that 145,000 tonnes has been dumped directly into the river, where it has flowed downstream and settled on the riverbed. Bottom-feeding aquatic species eat it and the metals begin their journey up the food chain.
“It changes the ecosystem,” Gilbert said.
Teck said the agreement is expected to lead to a court judgment in favour of the plaintiffs. However, the court has yet to decide the extent of any injuries that may have resulted and what — if any — damages the company will have to pay.
The lawsuit brought by the Colville Tribes eight years ago was to begin Monday. They claim Teck dumped 145,000 tons of slag containing arsenic, cadmium, copper, mercury, lead and zinc directly into the river.
For the rest of this article, please go to the Globe and Mail website: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/teck-admits-operations-polluted-us-waters/article4533432/