British Columbia is telling owners of a leaky mine that it’s time to stop polluting a river that flows into Alaska.
Provincial officials recently notified the Tulsequah Chief Mine that it’s out of compliance with its permits.
The long-closed project is on a tributary of the salmon-rich Taku River, which ends near Juneau. Owner Chieftain Metals plans to reopen the Tulsequah. But its tunnels continue to leak acidic wastewater containing metals that can harm fish.
Department of Environmental Conservation Deputy Commissioner Alice Edwards says British Columbia recently sent the state copies of the notices.
“We’re still in the process of analyzing what they found and what their plan is. But it does look like they are planning to take action. And it seems very similar to the type of process we would take on our side of the border if we were doing compliance action with the mine.”
Letters posted on a provincial website note the Tulsequah Chief built an on-site water treatment plant that began operating in the fall of 2011. It was closed the following summer.
The issue came up during a meeting in Juneau on Monday of the state’s Transboundary Waters Workgroup, chaired by Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott.
“My understanding is that the current ownership of the mines does not have the financial resources in the current state of mineral cycle to fully address their plans for the future of the Tulsequah, but the ministry was pressing them very hard.”
The work group is made up of commissioners and other officials from six state departments.
This meeting added a tribal seat held by Rob Sanderson Jr., of the United Tribal Transboundary Mining Work Group and the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska.
The council’s Will Micklin, an alternate for the seat, also attended.
Mallott says the tribal seat reflects a cooperative approach to addressing common concerns. He says it also opens the door to new opportunities for monitoring water quality.
“We believe that tribes may have access to federal resources in the future for dealing with the transboundary issues.”
And opportunities that the state may not have access to.
The state work group met in part to prepare for the first meeting of a new transboundary advisory panel.
Ed Schoenfeld is Regional News Director for CoastAlaska, a consortium of public radio stations in Ketchikan, Juneau, Sitka, Petersburg and Wrangell.
He primarily covers Southeast Alaska regional topics, including the state ferry system, transboundary mining, the Tongass National Forest and Native corporations and issues.
He has also worked as a manager, editor and reporter for the Juneau Empire newspaper and Juneau public radio station KTOO. He’s also reported for commercial station KINY in Juneau and public stations KPFA in Berkley, WYSO in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and WUHY in Philadelphia. He’s lived in Alaska since 1979 and is a contributor to Alaska Public Radio Network newscasts, the Northwest (Public Radio) News Network and National Native News. He is a board member of the Alaska Press Club. Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, he lives in Douglas.
