Canada: Regulations/Best Practice Not Working /Chemical spill shuts smelter in southern B.C.

B.C. mining giant admits polluting U.S. waters


Teck Resources acknowledges fouling Columbia River for more than 100 years
The Canadian Press Posted: Sep 10, 2012 9:21 PM ET Last Updated: Sep 10, 2012 9:45 PM ET
  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 for more than a century.
Teck subsidiary Teck Metals made the admission of fact in a lawsuit brought by a group of U.S. 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.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2012/09/10/bc-teck-admits-columbia-river-pollution.html

Teck responds to smelter illness accusations/

Wednesday August 15, 2012
A U.S. study has found an unusually high incidence of gastrointestinal disease in a small U.S. town located downstream from a Teck smelter in Trail, B.C.
Northport, Wash., is a small community of 300 people, located 35 kilometres downstream from Teck's Trail operations -- one of the biggest lead and zinc smelters in the world.
Researchers at Harvard Medical School have now confirmed Northport residents have 10 to 15 times the normal rate of diseases such as colitis and Crohn's disease, which have symptoms including abdominal pain and diarrhea.
Tuesday on Daybreak, we heard from Jamie Papparich. She's a local activist who has been investigating the matter for years. She says the problems originate upstream with the Teck smelter in Trail.
http://www.cbc.ca/daybreaksouth/news/2012/08/15/teck-responds-to-smelter-illness-accusations/

Teck hit with record pollution fine


Last Updated: Wednesday, December 2, 2009
10:06 PM PT The Canadian Press
Teck Resources Ltd. has been fined $115,000 for a chemical spill in the Columbia River last year.
It's the largest fine in B.C. history for a single count under the province's Environmental Management Act, Environment Minister Barry Penner said.
Penner said Teck pleaded guilty to the charge of "introducing business waste into the environment." The spill in southeast B.C. happened in May 2008.
Nearly 1,000 kilograms of lead solution spilled into the river from the company's lead-zinc smelter in Trail, B.C., about 10 kilometres north of the U.S. border.

Chemical spill shuts smelter in southern B.C.


Last Updated: Thursday, May 29, 2008
4:31 PM PT CBC News
Teck Cominco has shut down its lead smelter in Trail, B.C., because of a chemical spill Wednesday night.
An unknown quantity of lead and fluoride escaped into the Columbia River approximately 11 kilometres north of the U.S. border before the spill was spotted, said provincial Environment Minister Barry Penner.
"My understanding is a spill occurred…from the lead production facility at Trail, part of the Cominco smelter there. They have shut down their lead production line. Ministry of Environment staff are in the process of conducting water sampling and analyzing the results," he said.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/05/29/bc-teck-cominco-smelter-spill.html

Northport residents downwind of smelter see disease rise Local News


...smelter up the Columbia River in British Columbia. Now...in Trail, British Columbia, that's run by Teck Resources. For years...pollutants into the Columbia River. "When...Researchers believe ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease...

8/12/2012
seattletimes.com

2 Cluster of illness for WA town downwind of smelter Local News
...upriver in British Columbia. The...in Trail, British Columbia, that's run by Teck Resources. For years...into the Columbia River. Researchers believe ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease...of either ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease...

8/12/2012
seattletimes.com

3 Researchers suspect toxins behind Washington town's colitis cluster Local News

...nationwide have ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease...cases of either ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease...mining company Teck Resources also dumped millions...metals into the Columbia River. Korzenik...

8/12/2012
seattletimes.com

4 Massive study of Upper Columbia River underway Local News

...pollution in the Upper Columbia River threatens people...Canadian company Teck Resources Ltd. is paying for...smelter in Trail, British Columbia discharged millions...industrial waste into the Columbia River over the past century...

11/21/2010
seattletimes.com

5 Inflammation in Columbia sturgeon that ate slag Local News

...juvenile sturgeon that ingested slag from Teck Resources' smelter along the Columbia River just north of the Canadian border. ...that Teck's lead smelter in Trail, British Columbia, dumped at least 23 million tons of slag...

2/6/2011
seattletimes.com

6 Canadian smelter refines its legal case with admission Opinion and Editorial

...using the Upper Columbia River and Lake Roosevelt...Teck Cominco, Teck Resources or Teck Metals...slag into the Columbia River via outfalls...facts in Upper Columbia River litigation...emissions from Teck Resources Ltd. that...

9/13/2012
seattletimes.com

7 Teck Resources will clean up a beach it fouled

...Canadian smelter that fouled the Columbia River for nearly 100 years between...will hold our applause until Teck Resources accepts responsibility for the...generations, the company used the Columbia River as a convenient waste dump. If...

7/29/2009
seattletimes.com
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8 Sept. trial set over Columbia River pollution Local News

...other companies into a legal fight over Columbia River pollution. Washington state officials...company's zinc smelter in Trail, British Columbia released hazardous substances into the Columbia River for a century. Teck Cominco had...

4/9/2012
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9 Columbia River deal studied over ecology concerns Local News

...considering changes to the Columbia River Treaty with Canada to account...resulted in three dams in British Columbia and the Libby Dam in Montana...a BPA spokesman. In British Columbia, construction of the Duncan...warming climate is melting British Columbia's glaciers, which feed...

7/5/2012
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10 Colville Tribe, Teck go to court over Columbia River pollution Local News

...borders the Columbia River. "Our people...want to hold Teck Resources accountable...for the Upper Columbia River project...ruled that Teck Resources can be held...fish camp on a Columbia River tributary in...

8/12/2012
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11 Columbia River Treaty with Canada under review Local News

Regulators are considering changes to the Columbia River Treaty with Canada to account for salmon protection...addressed in 1964. The treaty resulted in three dams in British Columbia and the Libby Dam in Montana to boost hydroelectric...

7/5/2012
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12 September trial set over Columbia River pollution Local News

...legal fight over Columbia River pollution, paving...smelter in Trail, British Columbia, had argued it should...conditions in the Upper Columbia River." Teck Cominco...mile stretch of the Columbia River from Grand Coulee...

4/9/2012
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13 Two Tribal Fishermen Drowned In Flooded British Columbia River Local News

VANCOUVER, B.C. - Two men were killed as heavy rain and snowpack runoff throughout British Columbia left rivers on the rise. Three members of the Tl'azt'en Nation in northern Fort St. James were swept down the Tachie River...

6/1/1997
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14 Canadian smelter admits polluting Columbia River Local News

...admitted in U.S. District Court that it polluted the Columbia River near the Washington border in the past century. The...how best to manage pollution from it smelter at Trail, British Columbia, about six miles north of the border. --- Information...

9/11/2012
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15 Company to remove slag from Columbia River beach Local News

...American Inc. have reached an agreement to remove slag from a Columbia River beach just south of the Canadian border near Northport...from a smelter operated by Teck Metals Ltd. in Trail, British Columbia. Under the voluntary agreement signed this week, about...

7/16/2009
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16 September trial set over Columbia River pollution Local News

...legal fight over Columbia River pollution, paving...smelter in Trail, British Columbia, about 10 miles...mile stretch of the Columbia River from Grand Coulee...noted that the Columbia River has always been central...

4/9/2012
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17 Bishops urge conservation of Columbia River Local News

...to be better stewards of the Columbia River watershed. The 18-page...Oregon, Montana, Idaho and British Columbia, urges people to view the...tributaries. The letter, "The Columbia River Watershed: Caring for Creation...

2/21/2001
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18 Wash. officials track Columbia River sewage spills Local News

...Ecology is tracking two sewage spills into the Columbia River. The British Columbia environment ministry said Tuesday afternoon...sewage pipe leak has been repaired in Trail, British Columbia, and sewage is flowing normally to a wastewater...

3/27/2012
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19 Paddlers to complete Columbia River trip Friday Travel and Recreation

...scheduled to complete an 1,100-mile paddle down the Columbia River on Friday at Astoria, Ore. The David Thompson Columbia Brigade left June 1 from Invermere, British Columbia. They paddle in nine unsinkable canoes with support vehicles...

7/13/2011
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20 Columbia River smelt now officially listed as threatened Sports

...flood the waters of the Lower Columbia River, and head to many tributaries...tied to native tribes of the Columbia River region area, and were first...Northern California north into British Columbia. smelt10.jpg The Cowlitz...

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