As meetings of the panel that settles such disputes come to an end, First Nations and environmentalists claim they are frustrated by the federal and British Columbian governments’ refusal to comply with American requests for a joint examination of cross-border contamination from coal mining.
The Tobacco Plains First Nation is one of many groups upset about selenium contamination in southeast British Columbia’s Elk Valley from coal mines. Heidi Gravelle, chief of the Tobacco Plains First Nation, said, “They can sit on every fence they want, but at the end of the day, we’re going to do what’s right.”
“We won’t give up,”
The Canada-U.S. agency that arbitrates water conflicts, the International Joint Commission, has been meeting in Ottawa this week.
It has been requesting since May that Canada collaborate with the Americans in an inquiry into the Elk Valley problem known as a reference. The Biden administration, the EPA, the states of Montana and Idaho, First Nations and environmental organizations on both sides of the border, as well as the commission itself, all endorse the referral. The U. S.
According to commission spokesperson Edward Virden, the government “continues to emphasize its great interest in a binational reference to engage the (commission)”.
Governments in Canada are uncommitted.
According to Kaitlin Power, a spokeswoman for Environment and Climate Change Canada, “The Government of Canada is investigating a variety of approaches… to address water quality concerns in the Elk Valley.”
“The prospect of a reference to the (commission) has not been dismissed by Canada and the United States.”
B. C.
David Karn wrote on behalf of the provincial environment department that “does not want the commission’s involvement.”
Without the assistance of the International Joint Commission, B. C. continues to work with all parties to raise the quality of the water in the Elk River Valley.
The Elk Valley has long battled selenium poisoning from Teck Resources’ coal mines.
Despite spending more than $1 billion to try and solve the issue, Lake Kookanusa, a reservoir that spans the border between the United States and Canada, continues to have high levels of the element hazardous to fish.
The levels of selenium there already exceed those in the United States. The federal government of Canada has received letters of complaint from groups ranging from native leaders to U.S. senators.
B. C. native Wyatt Petryshen of Wildsight
the commission may establish a watershed board to bring all parties together, as it has done for other watersheds elsewhere along the border, including the Great Lakes, according to a nonprofit that monitors the issue.
He has a sneaking suspicion that B. C. is opposed to that. Previous boards have highlighted concerns about increased construction in watersheds like the Flathead River, which flows into southern British Columbia.
“It was suggested that no additional mines be constructed in the Flathead, which eliminated that from the B. C.
government. B. C. believes there is no incentive to attend another watershed board.
Petryshen and Gravelle claimed they don’t have enough access to the data generated by the multiple studies of the Elk Valley watershed that the province and Teck are involved in.
Gravelle added, “We don’t want the nice power points.
“We need the uncooked data. We want our people collecting it because then it doesn’t get skewed.
There is no deadline by which Canada must decide whether to participate in the referral. It would be quite unusual to move forward without both countries’ participation.
But it doesn’t imply the problem can continue to linger, according to Gravelle. She declared that her band is ready to think about going to court.
She said, “We want to figure something out. However, at the end of the day, we’re going to act in a way that is morally correct for all living beings, not just for ourselves.
First Nations are incensed by the delays in the joint investigation into cross-border coal mine contamination.
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