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Stakeholders Shine Light on Koocanusa Pollution
Stakeholders Shine Light on Koocanusa Pollution
Contaminants continue leaching from Canadian coal mines into Montana’s waterways
BY TRISTAN SCOTT // OCT 26, 2017 // 4:14PM
For researchers studying the effects of upstream Canadian coal mining on the Kootenai River watershed, it can sometimes feel as though their work takes place in an echo chamber.
....
For years, conservation groups and scientists on both sides of the border have been raising concerns about five coal mines owned and operated by Teck Resources in the Elk River Valley of British Columbia — concerns they say gained urgency when an experimental water treatment facility designed to stem the flow of a mining contaminant called selenium was found to be releasing an even more biologically toxic form of the heavy metal.
A spokesperson for Teck, the Vancouver-based mining giant, acknowledged the problem at the company’s water treatment plans, and said a plan has been identified to hopefully correct it.
Meanwhile, the mining operations continue, even as scientists and researchers from a multitude of state and federal agencies work to develop a site-specific plan for protecting Lake Koocanusa, where they continue to monitor the influx of selenium leaching out of the upstream coal mines.
Contaminants continue leaching from Canadian coal mines into Montana’s waterways
BY TRISTAN SCOTT // OCT 26, 2017 // 4:14PM
For researchers studying the effects of upstream Canadian coal mining on the Kootenai River watershed, it can sometimes feel as though their work takes place in an echo chamber.
....
For years, conservation groups and scientists on both sides of the border have been raising concerns about five coal mines owned and operated by Teck Resources in the Elk River Valley of British Columbia — concerns they say gained urgency when an experimental water treatment facility designed to stem the flow of a mining contaminant called selenium was found to be releasing an even more biologically toxic form of the heavy metal.
A spokesperson for Teck, the Vancouver-based mining giant, acknowledged the problem at the company’s water treatment plans, and said a plan has been identified to hopefully correct it.
Meanwhile, the mining operations continue, even as scientists and researchers from a multitude of state and federal agencies work to develop a site-specific plan for protecting Lake Koocanusa, where they continue to monitor the influx of selenium leaching out of the upstream coal mines.
