View of Lake Koocanosa from Moriah's Ledge in the summer. (JP Edge/Hungry Horse News)
March 17, 2022
Stories this photo appears in:
Study finds pollution 350 miles downstream of Canadian coal mines
Researchers with the U.S. Geological Survey have concluded that a large coal-mining operation in British Columbia is sending pollution more than 350 miles downstream into the Columbia River.
Canadian environmentalists question plan to sell coal mines above Lake Koocanusa
A pair of Canadian environmental organizations have asked Canadian regulators to consider several issues that could throw a wrench in a major coal mine sale north of the Montana border. The request tees up a decision that will have implications for Lake Koocanusa, a boundary-spanning waterway that a coal mining operation in British Columbia has polluted for decades.
Environmental policy group sues DOJ over withheld communications with Canadian coal company
A Montana environmental policy group sued the state Department of Justice earlier this month, alleging the department is violating the organization’s right to know under the constitution by withholding communications between the department and a Canadian coal mining company whose pollution is flowing downstream to Montana.
Missing Koocanusa cliff jumper found dead
A missing Lincoln County man was found dead in Lake Koocanusa on Wednesday evening.
Man missing after 90-foot cliff jump into Lake Koocanusa
Lincoln County authorities are searching for a man who reportedly jumped off a cliff into Lake Koocanusa and failed to resurface on Monday evening.
Environmentalists sue to protect Lake Koocanusa selenium rule
Environmental groups in Montana and Idaho are defending a water quality standard Montana adopted in 2020 by suing a quasi-judicial board that’s spent the past year trying to invalidate it.
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes join in call for Canadian action against selenium
The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, alongside 10 other tribal nations, has sent a letter to the Canadian government asking it to address mining in British Columbia because of the harm they say it is causing on indigenous lands in Montana and other border states.
Teck appears in Libby, fights back on troubling fish data
Key fish data prove invalid in flagging higher-than-allowed levels of selenium at Lake Koocanusa, representatives of Canadian coal miner Teck said last week at a meeting with Lincoln County Commissioners in Libby.
Recent data spell trouble for Koocanusa fish
If recent data from peamouth chub and other fish hold valid insight — and at least, biologists in Montana believe they do — selenium levels at Lake Koocanusa reach as high as 250% of what’s allowed in Montana waters.