2022 Key Highlights
The Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska recently joined multiple other Tribes and almost every Southeast Alaska municipality in passing a resolution calling for a permanent ban on B.C.’s mine waste dams upriver from Southeast Alaska and a temporary pause on new B.C. mining activity
Indigenous and conservation leaders recently flew to D.C. to urge action on British Columbia’s transboundary gold and coal mining and mine waste dams; and
Some big studies have made even more clear the risks and human rights violations that B.C. mining practices along transboundary rivers represent, including the certainty that B.C.’s mine waste dams will fail ultimately (and may kill people); and
A new comprehensive study looks at the effects mining has had on salmonid habitat in western North America; and
Freedom of information requests from the Ktunaxa Nation Council show Canada stonewalling a joint reference to the International Joint Commission for the Elk-Kootenai River system at the behest of British Columbia and Teck Coal; and
A truly collaborative path forward that respects and brings to multinational tables downstream communities, Tribes, and First Nations is even more urgent as at least two dozen gold-copper mines are in some stage of exploration, proposal, development, or operation in B.C.’s “Golden Triangle,” according to investor publications; and
Recent studies show B.C. plans to double the number of mines in the province. Many of them are or will be located along U.S.-B.C. transboundary rivers and have large earthen mine waste dams.
Below, we’ll dig into those topics and more.
Indigenous Leaders in Washington, D.C.
Tribal, First Nations, and conservation leaders traveled to Washington, D.C. this December to meet with members of Congress and with Biden Administration and Canadian Embassy officials. They delivered the message that the U.S. and Canadian federal governments must act immediately to protect downstream traditional territories from abandoned, ongoing, and proposed mining in British Columbia — and that they must honor their legal and ethical obligations under the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909.
“Canada’s mining in our shared rivers is one of the biggest threats to our wild salmon and our Indigenous way of life,” said Richard Chalyee Éesh Peterson, president of the Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, in a press release about the fly-in issued by the National Wildlife Federation. “We have been calling on the United States and Canada to honor their legal and ethical obligations and to act immediately to protect our traditional territories from legacy, ongoing, and proposed mining in British Columbia. We must get ahead of this before it’s too late.”
December 12, Public News Service — Tribes call for greater regulation of B.C. mines threatening Northwest waters
December 11, The Globe and Mail — Get tough with Canada over cross-border mining contaminants, Indigenous groups tell U.S.
December 9, Alaska Beacon—Tribes seek U.S. help to curb Canadian mining threats to Northwestern states
December 7, E&E News/Politico — Tribes lobby lawmakers, agencies against Canada mine pollution
December 7, Law 360 — Native Leaders Lobby White House On Canada Mining Threat
Time Out, Canada
Tribes and communities across Southeast Alaska have been urging the Biden Administration to demand a permanent ban on B.C.’s mine waste dams upriver of Southeast Alaska and a temporary pause on new B.C. mining activity. Tlingit & Haida this December urged the Biden Administration to secure with the Trudeau Administration a ban on mine waste dams upriver of Alaska and a temporary time out on new B.C.mining activity in transboundary river systems “until a binding international agreement on watershed protections, developed by the federal, Tribal and First Nations governments in these shared transboundary watersheds and consistent with the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909, is implemented.”
December 12, Alaska Native News — Tlingit & Haida Urges Federal Government to Uphold Commitments to Protect International Salmon Rivers from Canadian Mining
December 9, Tlingit & Haida — Resolution EC 22-68: To Protect Our Transboundary Waters and Way of Life
Comprehensive Looks at B.C. Mines’ Threat to Wild Salmon
The Narwhal’s mining reporter, Francesca Fionda, has come out with in-depth analyses of the shortcomings of B.C. mining regulations — including the danger digital staking poses to Indigenous rights and private property, U.S. concerns about B.C.’s transboundary mining, and B.C.’s regulatory shortcomings relative to other countries.
October 13, The Narwhal — ‘Nature has no borders’: why Americans are worried about Canadian mines
October 4, The Narwhal — Why doesn’t B.C. have mining regulations that Brazil, Ecuador and China already have?
July 8, The Narwhal — How digital prospectors are staking First Nations land and private property in B.C.
First-of-its-kind Study on Mining’s Effects on Wild Salmon in Western North America
An unprecedented, comprehensive paper published last summer in Science Advances delved into the effects mining has had on salmonids in western North America — and the threat the current mining boom poses to salmon species moving forward. "Our paper is not for or against mining, but it does describe current environmental challenges and gaps in the application of science to mining governance. We believe it will provide critically needed scientific clarity for this controversial topic," said lead author Chris Sergeant, Ph.D.
October 11, 54 Degrees North — Podcast: Mining risks to salmon watersheds
July 14, Canada’s National Observer — Mining risks for Pacific Northwest salmon murky due to lack of transparent data
July 13, KSTK — New study details mining impacts to salmon habitat, even hundreds of miles downstream
July 6, Juneau Empire — New paper sheds light on mining’s impact on salmon and transboundary watersheds
July 5, The Globe and Mail — Western mining boom puts salmon species at risk, study warns
New Studies: B.C.’s Mine Waste Dams
New reports issued this summer by BC Mining Law Reform and SkeenaWild, and an informative, interactive online map, show B.C.’s mine waste dams speckled across the landscape. The reports highlight that the existing and proposed dams – including several in the Alaska-B.C. transboundary region – are predicted to destroy ecosystems, wipe out infrastructure, and/or kill people when (not if) they fail.
July 30, The Province — Nikki Skuce and Christine McLean: B.C. yet to follow Mount Polley recommendation toward zero failures
July 14, The Narwhal — B.C. has a mine waste problem and it could be catastrophic
Mount Polley and its Impacts on Wild Salmon in the Fraser River System
New studies show that the 2014 Mount Polley mine waste dam failure continues to negatively impact Quesnel Lake and Quesnel River ecosystems–part of the Fraser River watershed and among the most important wild salmon spawning and rearing areas in the world.
October 16, Science Direct — Annual pulses of copper-enriched sediment in a North American river downstream of a large lake following the catastrophic failure of a mine tailings storage facility
July 12, University of British Columbia — Mount Polley mine tailings present in Quesnel Lake water eight years after big spill
May 25, CBC — Ecological impact of Mount Polley mine disaster confirmed by new study
B.C. okayed Imperial Metals (also the co-owner of the much larger Red Chris mine and tailings storage facility in the upper Stikine-Iskut watershed) to restart operations at Mount Polley less than two years after the disaster. B.C. then authorized Imperial Metals to pump mine waste directly into Quesnel Lake in 2017.
This year, B.C. granted Imperial Metals’ request to extend this waste discharge permit for three more years–until 2025.
August 3, The Tyee — Will BC Let Mount Polley Mine Keep Pumping Waste into Quesnel Lake?
The Mount Polley mine re-started operations this year, three years after Imperial Metals shut down mine operations in 2019 when metal prices dropped. While Mount Polley mine was closed, waste continued to be discharged directly into Quesnel Lake almost constantly.
August 4, The Narwhal — Mount Polley mine is reopening eight years after spill
July 19, Williams Lake Tribune — Mount Polley mine reopening as study finds contamination entering food chain
Wild Salmon
Wild salmon in B.C. continued to decline. Most recently, B.C. lost its MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) sustainability certification.
November 14, Seafood Source — BC's wild salmon industry facing uphill battle as government failings cause loss of MSC certification
The Alaska Department of Fish & Game’s 2023 Chinook forecasts have been released, showing that the Chinook runs of the Taku and Unuk Rivers are predicted to meet escapement goals next year (the minimum number of spawning fish necessary to sustain the population). However, the Stikine Chinook run is not forecasted to meet escapement goals in 2023. The Chilkat and Situk Rivers are also forecasted to meet Chinook escapement goals.
December 9, Press Release — 2023 Southeast Alaska Chinook Salmon Forecasts
Retired fisherman Len Peterson told Salmon Beyond Borders, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen as strong a Taku River sockeye return as I see this year.”
August 11, Salmon Beyond Borders — “Fishermen are positively giddy”
This was an unexpectedly good summer for sockeye salmon not only in record-breaking locations like Southcentral Alaska’s Bristol Bay, but in Southeast Alaska rivers like the Taku.
“Here in Alaska, we can protect the watersheds that we have, we’re going to have to work harder than ever to make sure the watersheds remain intact,” SalmonState’s Lindsey Bloom told the Juneau Empire.
July 5, Juneau Empire — Sockeye harvest numbers soaring, other species see decline
Alaska-B.C. Transboundary Rivers
In a piece that has been published by multiple outlets, journalist Becki Robins dug into B.C. mining’s threat to wild Alaska salmon.
November 16, Smithsonian — How Will Mining Affect Alaskan Salmon?
Bjorn Dihle dove into the same threat in Steve Rinella’s MeatEater.
March 25, The MeatEater — Canadian megamines threaten Southeast Alaska salmon and wilderness
Discover Magazine also covered the issue. "For decades, Canadian waterways have carried toxic mine waste through natural ecosystems, into tribal lands and across the U.S. border. A coalition of indigenous leaders and scientists are now calling for international protection," reads the subhead of this story.
February 5, Discover Magazine — Canadian mine waste is crossing borders and facing international backlash
Alaska-B.C. Taku River
In the Taku River system, the receivership process for B.C.’s abandoned Tulsequah Chief mine, which has been leaching acid mine drainage into transboundary waters for more than 60 years, finally ended this August. That means that B.C. can now begin to attempt its planned $100 million cleanup of the Tulsequah Chief mine in earnest.
“We’re thrilled that the last bureaucratic hurdles are cleared and we urge the B.C. government to move quickly to fix this decades-long mess,” Salmon Beyond Borders told the Juneau Empire. “While we are optimistic this source of acid mine waste contamination will soon be brought under control, it does not obscure the fact this took far too long and much larger problems loom on the horizon.”
August 31, Ketchikan Daily News Editorial — Clean it up
August 30, Alaska Native News — After 65 years of waiting, an acid waste-generating abandoned mine in the Taku River watershed may finally be cleaned up.
August 26, CoastAlaska — Tulsequah Chief Mine might see cleanup after 65 years
August 23, The Narwhal — An ‘open, oozing wound’: why it’s taken decades to clean up waste from a troubled mine in B.C.
Also in the Taku watershed, Canadian junior mining company Canagold hopes to reopen the New Polaris gold mine, just across the Taku River from the Tulsequah Chief mine.
August 18, Mining Stock Education — Canagold Mobilizes Drill Crews and Restarts Resource Expansion Drilling at the New Polaris Project
Alaska-B.C. Stikine River
Last summer, B.C. and the Tahltan Central Government signed a consent agreement on mining in Tahltan territory, which comprises much of the Stikine-Iskut and Unuk River systems.
June 6, Mining.com — British Columbia, Tahltan sign consent agreement on mine permitting
Alaska-B.C. Unuk-Nass Rivers
Seabridge Gold continues to move the KSM (Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell) mine toward reality at the headwaters of the Unuk River — as well as its mine tailings storage facility with 4 proposed tailings dams at the headwaters of the Nass River. Seabridge tells investors that KSM would be the biggest mine in North America, and one of the biggest in the world. In his recent report, The Risk of Tailings Dam Failure in British Columbia: An Analysis of the British Columbia Existing and Future Tailings Storage Database, geophysicist Steve Emerman, Ph.D., highlights that the Canadian Dam Association predicts that a tailings dam failure at KSM will result in at least 100 human deaths.
Also in the Unuk watershed not far from the U.S.-Canada border, Skeena Resources continues to make progress on its plans to “revitalize” the underground Eskay Creek gold mine (formerly owned by Barrick Gold) into an open-pit gold mine. In a November 29, 2022 letter, Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault states that the federal government of Canada has granted B.C.’s request for a provincial environmental assessment of Eskay Creek to substitute for the normal requirement for both provincial and federal assessments to be conducted at a mining project along a transboundary river.
September 7, Mining.com — Seabridge Gold’s KSM story
August 5, Mining News North — A 72-year mining opportunity at KSM
July 14, yahoo! finance – New analysis confirms high-risk, threats posed by B.C.’s mining sector
March 25, CKPGToday.ca — Seabridge Gold mine in northwest B.C. to move ahead
Washington-B.C. Rivers
New studies and a video from Conservation Northwest and the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation revealed the high consequences of the Copper Mountain mine waste dam failing — and that the probability of that failure happening on any given year is as high as 1 in 100.
August 31, Northwest News Network — B.C. tailings dam failure could spell disaster for Canada, Washington, studies say
August 3, YouTube — B.C. mine looming over WA poses dire consequences to our rivers, wildlife, and communities
Montana-Idaho-B.C. Transboundary Rivers
This spring, Canada rejected an IJC reference for the Elk-Kootenai River, which flows from B.C. into Montana and Idaho (and then back into B.C.). Teck’s B.C. coal mines have contaminated the Elk-Kootenai for decades with at times high levels of selenium, a toxicant at high levels that deforms and kills fish when it bioaccumulates in an aquatic ecosystem. Canada notified the transboundary Ktunaxa Nation of that rejection via email.
May 13, Flathead Beacon — Canada Rejects Proposal for Federal Intervention on Polluted Transboundary Watershed
Faced with backlash from the transboundary Ktunaxa Nation and others, Canada quickly walked that rejection back.
May 26, The Narwhal — Canada flip-flops amid calls for international investigation into B.C. coal mine pollution
May 20, Flathead Beacon — Canada Walks Back Position on IJC Reference for Kootenai Coal Mine Contamination
The Biden Administration then joined with all six Indigenous governments of the transboundary Ktunaxa Nation in calling on Canada to jointly refer the contaminated Elk-Kootenai watershed to the IJC.
June 19, Flathead Beacon — U.S., Tribes Press Canada to Examine Kootenai Watershed Pollution
June 14, The Globe and Mail — U.S. government joins calls for Canada to participate in probe of cross-border pollution from B.C. coal mines
This fall, B.C. Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act requests from the Ktunaxa Nation show Canada rejecting the IJC reference at the behest of B.C. and the mining corporation doing the contamination — Teck Coal.
November 8, The Narwhal — B.C. and Teck pressured the feds not to investigate coal mine pollution: documents
October 27, Press Release — Documents: Global Affairs Canada shelves a joint international initiative to address Kootenay watershed selenium contamination
At the same time Canada hosted COP15: UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal Dec. 7-19, 2022, the transboundary Ktunaxa Nation publicly decried how Canada continues to fail to protect ecosystems and species from transboundary mining pollution.
December 13, Missoulian — CSKT join tribes urging US, Canada to act on Teck coal mines December 12, Indian Country Today — COP15 and Canada's failure to address transboundary mining pollution
U.S. to Fund Canadian Mining?
Recent news coverage highlighted how the Biden Administration is considering providing grant funds directly to Canadian mining companies, and signing new mineral purchase agreements with Canada.
August 23, E&E News — Biden admin eyes funding Canadian mining
Lastly, since our last media roundup, Jill Weitz, our former director, has transitioned to the role of natural resource manager at the Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. We are thrilled both for Jill and for Tlingit & Haida in netting such a capable person. Before she left, Jill shared some stories with us from her journey both to Alaska and to becoming a leader in this space. You can read those stories here.
I’m Breanna Walker. I stepped up to become Salmon Beyond Borders’ director after Jill’s departure. I’ve been involved in Salmon Beyond Borders since 2018, when I joined the team as campaign coordinator. Before joining the team as staff, I volunteered with Salmon Beyond Borders as a student at the University of Alaska Southeast. The work we do is deeply important to me as a resident of Southeast Alaska and a guest living in Lingít Aaní. It is a privilege to be the director of Salmon Beyond Borders, following in the footsteps of former directors Jill Weitz and Heather Hardcastle. I look forward to continuing to work with fellow community members, business owners, and commercial fishermen, alongside Tribal and First Nations leaders, to defend the Taku, Stikine, and Unuk Rivers.