INTERNATIONAL LETTER URGES CANADA, U.S. TO JOINTLY ADDRESS BRITISH COLUMBIA TRANSBOUNDARY MINING POLLUTION

An international group of 22 science and policy experts have published a joint commentary in the prestigious​ journal ​Science,​ urging United States (U.S.) and Canadian leadership to immediately address damages and risks caused by Canadian mine pollution flowing downstream into U.S. states. At a workshop led by University of Montana and Alaska researchers, the group, which included representatives from U.S. Tribes and British Columbia
     
(B.C.) First Nations, concluded that the threats and impacts of Canadian mines on shared rivers, fisheries, and communities is not adequately assessed by the B.C. government. The letter also calls on the U.S. and Canadian federal governments to invoke the U.S.-Canada Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 and address the fact that B.C. mine assessments are not adequately based on defensible science nor adequately protect U.S.-B.C. transboundary waters from mining pollution.

See the full press release below.