U.S., Canadian Zinc Company Reach Agreement on Pollution Study

Goal is to clean up river running from Canada through U.S. Pacific Northwest

The United States and a Vancouver, Canada-based zinc producing company have reached agreement on a pollution study with the ultimate goal of cleaning up the upper Columbia River in northeast Washington state, announced the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

In a June 2 statement, the EPA said the accord calls for the zinc producer, Teck Cominco, to assess the environmental contamination caused by the company's smelter operations in Trail, British Columbia, about 9 kilometers north of the U.S. border in Washington state, the EPA said. The EPA said it will oversee the assessment. Teck Cominco is the world's largest zinc producer.

The agency said the upper Columbia basin is a National Recreation Area visited by more than 1.5 million people annually. The multiyear study will assess risks from contamination to both people and the environment, and covers a distance from the Canadian border downstream to the Grand Coulee Dam in Central Washington state. A national recreation area is a specially protected area in the United States designed to preserve wild lands in their natural state.

Teck Cominco has agreed to fully fund the multiyear study to its completion and to pay for oversight costs, the EPA said. The agreement also provides for state and tribal involvement in the study.

Michael Bogert, EPA's regional administrator for the northwest United States, said that "with this historic agreement, we have moved from opposite sides of the table to sit down together as environmental problem solvers. By delivering results through cooperation over confrontation, the Bush Administration is avoiding years of inefficient litigation and beginning the restoration of the river basin."

Doug Horswill, Teck Cominco's senior vice president for Environment and Corporate Affairs, said his company has a "long standing commitment to protect the environment as a responsible corporate citizen." Teck Cominco, he said, has "voluntarily sought a cooperative arrangement with U.S. authorities to address the public's concerns surrounding" pollution of the upper Columbia River. "This agreement is a great step forward in allowing us to fulfill our commitment," Horswill said.

The company said other entities involved in the agreement are the U.S. Department of the Interior, the government of Canada, the State of Washington, and the Spokane and Confederated Colville Indian Tribes.

Source: U.S. Department of State

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