US, Canada and indigenous groups announce proposal to address cross-border mining pollution

abcnews.go.com:

The U.S., Canada and several indigenous groups have agreed to address pollution from coal mining in British Columbia that officials say has been contaminating waterways on both sides of the border for many years

BILLINGS, Mont. — The U.S., Canada and several indigenous groups announced a proposal on Monday to address pollution from coal mining in British Columbia that officials say has been contaminating waterways and harming fisheries on both sides of the border for years.

The proposal would be executed through a century-old U.S.-Canada boundary waters treaty, establishing independent boards to study the pollution’s extent and make cleanup recommendations.

Details were obtained by The Associated Press in advance of the proposal's public release. It comes after indigenous groups in British Columbia, Montana and Idaho lobbied for more than a decade for the federal governments in the U.S. and Canada to intervene and stop the flow of pollution.

Scientists from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency several years ago confirmed high levels of selenium in fish and eggs in Montana’s Kootenai River downstream of Lake Koocanusa, which straddles the U.S. Canada border. The chemical, released when coal is mined and washed during processing, can be toxic to fish, aquatic insects and the birds that feed on them.

Some members of the Ktunaxa Nation — which includes two tribes in the U.S. and four first nations in Canada — depend on those fish populations for sustenance.

“The fish, especially the smaller ones, you see a lot of damage. You're starting to get abnormalities in their bodies, reproductive issues,” said Tom McDonald, Vice Chairman of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in northwestern Montana. “It has to stop.”

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