U.S.-Canada agreement to address transboundary mining pollution

The Biden Administration announced at the end of March that the U.S. and Canada intend to come to an agreement this year to reduce and mitigate the impacts of water pollution from mining operations in the Kootenai watershed, including addressing selenium issues.

The decision comes after U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, sent the administration a letter March 21, asking President Joe Biden to address the issue. He sent the letter just prior to Biden’s trip to Canada to meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“We just wanted to add some urgency,” Tester told the Inter Lake about the timing of his letter.

Two of Tester’s major concerns outlined in the letter dealt with selenium pollution on the Kootenai River and Lake Koocanusa, and a renegotiation and modernization of the 1964 Columbia River Treaty.

According to Tester’s office, the two governments will spend the next few months, alongside tribes and First Nations, identifying specific steps to protect transboundary waters, specifically aiming to reduce mining pollution.

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality found that the source of elevated selenium in Lake Koocanusa — which is northwest of Kalispell on the northern border — originates from the Elk Valley in British Columbia as a byproduct of historic and present day mining operations.

The decision to reach an agreement comes after an ongoing pressure campaign by Canada’s Teck Coal to strike Montana’s water quality standard for selenium, a byproduct of Teck’s coal mining operations in British Columbia. Montana adopted a standard for Lake Koocanusa in December of 2020 that limits selenium to 0.8 micrograms per every liter of water; Teck wants the DEQ to toss out that standard.

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho and the Ktunaxa Tribal First Nation in British Columbia have consistently pushed both nation’s governments to work together and refer the issue to the International Joint Commission.

Canada and the United States created the International Joint Commission in 1912 to mitigate each other's effects on the actions in lake and river systems along the border. Their main responsibilities are to approve projects and investigate transboundary issues to recommend solutions, which would be the goal here.

Tester, in his most recent letter, requested a referral to the commission as well.

The senator first called on federal officials to look into transboundary water pollution in a July 2015 letter to John Kerry, who then served as Secretary of State under President Obama, specifically asking for attention at the Montana and British Columbia border.

Alongside his concerns for selenium are Tester’s concerns about the 1964 Columbia River Treaty. Tester said that the treaty has direct impacts on the economy, environment and flood control in Montana, and there is now less than one year to finalize negotiations with Canada before reaching a point where changes to the treaty could occur, including possible termination.

According to Montana Sen. Mike Cuffe, R-Libby, selenium concentrations could become exceedingly problematic if the Canadian government ever exercised their right to pull water from the Kootenai River, as allowed in Article 13 of the treaty. According to Cuffe, the biggest change that the two governments need to make is the removal of that article from the treaty.

While Canada has not expressed intent to pull water from the river, the effect, according to Cuffe, would decrease production at Libby Dam and increase the percentage of selenium in Lake Koocanusa, a detriment to the area’s aquatic health.

“My biggest, biggest concern is that whatever they’re doing has to include the Columbia River Treaty,” the state senator said.

Tester told the Inter Lake he anticipates agreements to be made by this summer.

Reporter Kate Heston can be reached at kheston@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4459.