Juneau, AK - The State of Alaska and the Province of British Columbia released yesterday their final report on the B.C.-Alaska Transboundary Rivers Monitoring Program, claiming “extraordinary partnership” across the border and conclusion of the program after river sampling for just two years. While data collection for water quality and fish health in the shared Taku, Stikine, and Unuk Rivers is important, this report is extremely limited in scope, and the state and province grossly misrepresent their collaboration with Tribes in Alaska, First Nations in B.​C., and U.S. federal agencies in their press release about the data report.

In an unprecedented move, U.S. commissioners for the U.S.-Canada International Joint Commission (IJC) have accused their Canadian counterparts of repressing information on B.C. mine pollution — and resulting fish kills — in a transboundary U.S.-Canada watershed. The commissioners wrote in a letter to the Department of State’s Office of Canadian Affairs Director Cynthia Kierscht that the “province of British Columbia (B.C.) knows that mining impacts cannot be mitigated to satisfy Article IV of the Boundary Waters Treaty, and, for this reason, B.C. does not want the Parties to refer mining issues to the IJC for resolution.” The revelation makes clear what is at risk for Southeast Alaska if it remains unprotected from B.C. mines near the headwaters of transboundary rivers — and Alaska’s urgent need for binding enforceable protections and financial assurances, which only federal action can achieve.