Salmon Beyond Borders calls B.C.’s action at Tulsequah Chief Mine “bare minimum”

JUNEAU, AK—Teck Resources and the Taku River Tlingit First Nation on Dec. 3 presented a virtual update to Alaskans on the status of cleanup at the Tulsequah Chief Mine, which has been leaking acid mine drainage into the transboundary Taku River system since it was abandoned in 1957. British Columbia’s involvement is the bare minimum of what Alaskans have asked for, and it is far less than what was promised by the province in the 2015 memorandum of understanding between the State of Alaska and B.C. Alaskans have been asking the B.C. government for full cleanup of this abandoned mine for decades. The province has been promising it for more than a decade. 

“We are grateful to the TRTFN for their leadership and aquatic monitoring, but we have many concerns about what we heard from Teck today, including that a cleanup plan likely won’t be final until 2029,” said Salmon Beyond Borders Director Breanna Walker. “The B.C. government could legally hold Teck, the mine’s historical owner, liable for the estimated $100 million cost of the cleanup right now. Instead of doing that, they’re hoping Teck will continue to volunteer to be involved. This lack of enforcement speaks volumes as to the way the province tiptoes around the big players in the mining industry — and the risk that means the rest of us face.” 

Alaskans need the ability to give meaningful input on the Tulsequah Chief remediation plans. A curated Q&A from Teck that did not acknowledge or publish all questions — including one about Teck’s responsibility for full cleanup — is not true input and collaboration. The State of Alaska and Province of British Columbia are falling short of the commitments made a decade ago in both the B.C.-Alaska Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation, and Statement of Cooperation on Protection of Transboundary Waters.

Canada and British Columbia are doubling down on the gold-copper mining in the transboundary region by fast-tracking several of the mining expansion and development proposals. More than 100 B.C. low-grade hardrock mine projects are in some phase of exploration, proposal, or development in the transboundary region. Scientists now warn that Canadian mining pressure along our shared rivers could lead to “undocumented extinction” of salmon runs.