Clean up that damn mine

The Tulsequah Chief mine has been polluting the Taku Watershed with acid mine drainage (AMD) for over 60 years now. This pollution is in violation of British Columbia and Canadian laws and mine permits. The most recent study done by B.C. found “unacceptable risks” from the toxic drainage. Three years ago the B.C. Mines Minister visited Juneau and promised to remedy the problem, yet nothing has been done. So, why is the pollution still happening?

Alaska Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott’s efforts to draw attention to the need for B.C. to promptly and completely close and clean up the mine site have been helpful, but more is needed to get B.C. to move beyond promises and to take action. In a February 2017 letter to Senator Denis Egan, Mallott wrote, “During two recent meetings of the SOC Bilateral Workgroup, we were reassured of BC’s efforts to identify and address any outstanding legacy concerns relating to the Tulsequah Chief mine.” But, as six Alaska legislators wrote to Gov. Bill Walker last June, “We are concerned because B.C. has given such verbal ‘assurances’ for more than 20 years, yet very little has been done to end the acid runoff.”

After the Lt. Gov. and U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan’s February visit to, he told the CBC that Canada “… needs to act and act very soon. … If it goes too much longer without forward movement, I think we have legitimate reason to be fairly aggressive in our continuing conversations with the Canadians.” After a follow-up meeting with Canadian officials, Sullivan, R-Alaska, was encouraged by the discussion regarding the cleanup of TCM. I respectfully suggest it is now time to get more aggressive.

Inaction on the part of Canadian provincial and federal governmental agencies to enforce their own laws makes them complicit in the ongoing AMD pollution. They have had more than enough time and opportunities to achieve cleanup of the mine by simply taking enforcement actions for violations of their own mining and environmental laws. The AMD pollution is, and has been in violation of provisions of the Canadian Federal Fisheries Act, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, the B.C. Environmental Assessment Act and the B.C. Mines Act as well as permits issued under the B.C. Environmental Management Act. Cleanup orders have been issued over the past several years but, despite those orders, no actual AMD cleanup actions were undertaken.

B.C. officials have managed to formulate convenient reasons, no, excuses, why the mine has not been cleaned up and remediated. For years, they claimed it was necessary to find a new mine operator to buy and clean up the AMD. Now that they haven’t found a buyer, the bankruptcy process for mine owner Chieftain Metals is the latest reason du jour why the pollution continues unabated. The B.C. and Canadian governments must acknowledge their complicity in the pollution and do whatever is necessary to clean up the mess.

Cleaning up the Tulsequah Chief is a necessary first step in building any sort of trust that Alaskans will have in B.C. and Canada’s mining and environmental laws. Prior to the bankruptcies, B.C. had plenty of chances to enforce the laws and cleanup orders against Redfern and Chieftan Metals. Yet, they failed because they were more interested in mine development at any cost than enforcing laws and permits. Opportunities to demand full cleanup and remediation of the mine may present themselves at meetings of the AK-B.C. Bilateral Workgroup, scheduled for later this month, and meetings between U.S. and Canadian federal agencies later this fall. However, Alaska must be uncompromising in demanding that B.C. must now specifically assume responsibility for cleanup and develop a clear plan and obtaining funding and to stop making excuses for why they can’t do that.

More verbal assurances not backed up by actual plans to clean up the mine will be as worthless and insulting as the assurances that we have been fed for decades. One would think that 60 years of, what I consider, willful acid mine pollution is enough. Any reasonable deadline for action has passed. The time is now to clean up that worthless damn mine.


• Brian Lynch of Petersburg is a commercial fisheries biologist retired after a 30 year career with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, a 37 year resident of Petersburg, and currently works in Petersburg for Rivers Without Borders on transboundary mining issues.


More in Opinion

Web
Have something to say?

Here’s how to add your voice to the conversation.

The Aiviq, a private icebreaker the U.S. Coast Guard is considering purchasing for Arctic operations with Juneau as its home port, is seen on March 24, 2012. (Courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard)
Opinion: Giving credit where credit is due

It’s been a long time since the Juneau economy has been bolstered… Continue reading

Gus Schumacher, an Anchorage cross-country skier, testifies at a Senate Budget Committee hearing last Wednesday. (Budget committee screenshot)
An Alaska Olympian went to D.C. to testify on climate change. Then a senator dredged up old tweets.

Gus Schumacher hit with climate science quiz in exchange that went viral in conservative circles.

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, second from right, attends a bill signing by President Donald Trump on Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018, in the Oval Office of the White House. (Official White House photo)
Opinion: Sen. Dan Sullivan, a conservative in name only

It’s easy to imagine Sen. Lisa Murkowski broke out in a smile… Continue reading

(Anne Onamuss / For the Juneau Empire)
My Turn: Alaska’s deepest trouble is nonsupport of education

People are exiting The Great Land and are reluctant to come here… Continue reading

The studio model of Starship “Enterprise” from Star Trek is on display at The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum on its reopening on Oct. 14, 2022, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Opinion: No Alaska governor has ever so boldly held schools and students as political hostages

“Star Trek” reference looks past real argument for school funding.

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Letter: Black-and-white view of Gaza goes too far

Alexander Dolitsky’s letter rebuffing Dixie Belcher’s attempt to humanize the tragedy unfolding… Continue reading

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Letter: Murkowski and Sullivan should oppose Trump

The New York Times reported Saturday that Mr. Trump said, “some migrants… Continue reading

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Letter: If you see roadside rubbish, please pick it up

I met a young Tlingit lady and her friend this weekend, picking… Continue reading

Looking up at the 1882 Edward Webster House on Telephone Hill from Second Street and Main Street in January 2024. (Photo by Laurie Craig)
Opinion: Juneau Assembly holds firm on Telephone Hill development

In a rare moment of near unanimity during a special Assembly meeting… Continue reading