The Mount Polley mine disaster has officially spilled over the border into the U.S. – figuratively speaking.
A coalition of Alaskan politicians, including both senators and Congressman Don Young, as well as state legislators, have signed a letter asking U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to intervene to address concerns over new mines in the northwest corner of B.C. and the impacts they could have on Alaskan waters and fish.
The letter was prompted by the Mount Polley mine disaster, which spilled more than two tonnes of mine slurry and 10 million tonnes of water into Hazeltine Creek and Polley and Quesnel lakes.
Mount Polley is nowhere the U.S. borders, but the Red Chris mine is located in northwest B.C. in the Stikine watershed, which is shared with Alaska.
Red Chris is owned by Imperial Metals (TSX:III), which also owns the Mount Polley mine.
It is one of five “acid-draining” mines proposed for the region that Alaskan fishermen are concerned about, because they are all located on river systems shared with Alaska: the Unuk, Stikine and Taku.
The biggest concern is over the proposed KSM mine, a massive copper mine 65 kilometres northwest of Stewart B.C. and 30 kilometres from Alaska.
The Mount Polley tailings pond failure coincided with what promises to be one of the largest sockeye returns in history.
And though the B.C. government has said testing shows there has been no impact on fish, Alaskan fishermen are concerned about both the potential impacts on fish from Mount Polley, as well as future impacts on fish and watersheds shared between B.C. and Alaska.
"This failure may affect salmon stocks managed under the Pacific Salmon Treaty,” Sen. Mark Begich writes in the letter to Kerry.
“A similar failure at mines proposed near the Unuk, Stikine and Taku Rivers would directly affect fishery stocks upon which commercial and recreational fishermen depend, as well as the subsistence and cultural needs of the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian people of my state.”
“Although the mines are in Canada, the fish rely on transboundary waters as part of their life cycle and these waters know no borders,” writes John Morris, Jr., co-chairman of the United Tribal Transboundary Mining Work Group.
“The State Department needs to ensure that these fish and the rights of our tribal citizens are respected.”
Brian Lynch, a fisherman with the Petersburg Vessel Owners Association, said the U.S. could invoke the Boundary Waters Treaty to put pressure on B.C. to slow down or halt projects that pose a potential threat to fish-bearing waters. The treaty provides mechanisms for dealing with disputes between Canada and the U.S. on shared waters.
Fisherman in Alaska are also concerned about any impact from mines on the Nass River, because under the Pacific Salmon Treaty, the harvest of Nass River salmon are shared between Canadian and American fishermen.
“If there’s some sort of disaster on the Nass, it not only will affect Canadians, it will affect U.S. fishermen too,” Lynch told Business in Vancouver.
