The pollution that's seeped from piles of leftover waste rock at metallurgical coal mines in the Elk Valley for decades is now under the spotlight of an international inquiry that's looking for solutions.
The Canada-U.S. treaty organization investigating transboundary water pollution from coal mines in southeast British Columbia offered new details Monday about its plan to study the contentious issue, and is now seeking public input.
For decades, contaminants, such as selenium, have seeped into local waterways from piles of leftover waste rock at coal mines in the Elk Valley. That pollution has moved downstream into the Elk and Kootenay rivers, which flow through Ktunaxa Nation territory in B.C., Montana and Idaho. While all living things need tiny amounts of selenium, too much of it can be toxic. In fish, even relatively small amounts of selenium have been shown to cause deformities and reproductive failure. This is a particular concern for at-risk fish populations such as westslope cutthroat trout, burbot and white sturgeon — all found downstream of the mines.
Last March, the Canada and U.S. governments referred the long-standing concerns about coal mine pollution to the International Joint Commission — more than a decade after Ktunaxa Nation first called for the commission to be involved.
According to the new proposed plan, an expert panel will compile existing data on water quality and impacts to human and ecosystem health — and explore potential solutions to reduce the flow of pollution from the mines.
Rich Janssen, the head of the natural resources department for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, said mine pollution has negatively impacted downstream rivers — and the people who rely on them — for decades. Photo: Jesse Winter / The Narwhal
“The mines have been very negatively impacting all of us downstream in the Kootenai for decades,” Rich Janssen, head of the natural resources department and member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, said in an interview.
“We need to see sound science,” he said. “We need to see the data for the mining impacts to fish, water and people and make every effort to heal the watershed.”
“The release of the draft plan of study is welcome — and a long-awaited step in the right direction,” Janssen said.
Simon Wiebe, a mining policy and impacts researcher for the Kootenay-based conservation group Wildsight, said in an interview, also welcomed the release of the proposed study plan.
“We now recognize that a) there is a problem, and b) something has to be done,” he said in an interview.
“Historically, we’ve allowed industry to set the tone on what should be done and how quickly it should be done,” he said. “So, we’re really in a historic time right now where we’re getting a third-party, independent review of these issues.”
Draft study plan to examine water pollution impacts on human, ecosystem health
The International Joint Commission was established under the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty to study and recommend solutions to intractable disputes related to transboundary waterways, and many have long seen it as the natural venue to address concerns about pollution from the Elk Valley mines.
Last year, Canada and the U.S. asked the commission to convene all affected governments within the region to develop an action plan to reduce the impacts of mine pollution on the watershed. In September, the commission also established a study board of scientists and knowledge holders to better understand the pollution and its impact on people and other species.
For years, U.S. scientists have been monitoring contaminant levels in the Koocanusa Reservoir, which spans the Canada-U.S. border downstream of the mines. Photo: Jesse Winter / The Narwhal
The study board is now proposing to establish four technical working groups to help build a “common understanding” of the pollution in the Elk and Kootenay rivers. The board is requesting $4.9 million to fund the work. (The Narwhal did not receive clarification from the commission on whether the requested funding is in Canadian or U.S. dollars by publication time.)
The water quality group will compile and analyze available pollution data to describe the current status and trends in water quality
The human health group will review existing health risk assessments and identify “known or suspected human-health hazards” from pollution in the watershed
The ecosystem group will examine how ecosystems on land and in the water are affected by water pollution and other stressors like clearcut logging, housing development and increasing recreation
The mitigation group, meanwhile, will assess planned or measures in place to reduce water pollution in the watershed, look for potential solutions used elsewhere and opportunities to harmonize water quality standards across jurisdictions
All four technical groups will work with a council of Ktunaxa Nation knowledge holders.
“As part of the covenant made with the Creator, Ksanka ȼ Ktunaxa continue to be a voice for those who cannot speak for themselves — the four legged, the winged, the ones who crawl on the ground and swim in the waters — in upholding the responsibility given by the Creator to safeguard ʔa’kxam ̓ is q̓api qapsin [all living things] for future generations,” the draft study plan says.
The commission directed the study board to release an interim report on its progress in September 2025 and a final report, including recommendations related to its findings, in September 2026.
An online information session will be held Feb. 11. The public has until Feb. 17 to comment on the draft study plan.
Conservation group hopeful study will identify solutions for mine contamination
In an interview, Wiebe described the draft study plan as “ambitious.”
“The major thing that stood out to me was the inclusion of mitigation strategies,” he said. “This is what I personally have been hoping for.”
“The [International Joint Commission] study will almost certainly do a great job of evaluating the data and seeing how much pollution there is, but at the end of the day, we know that there’s pollution in the watershed,” he said. “What we don’t know is: how can we do better at reducing that?”
Investigating problems. Exploring solutions
The Narwhal’s reporters are telling environment stories you won’t read about anywhere else. Stay in the loop by signing up for a weekly dose of independent journalism.
Investigating problems. Exploring solutions
The Narwhal’s reporters are telling environment stories you won’t read about anywhere else. Stay in the loop by signing up for a weekly dose of independent journalism.
Janssen said it’s particularly important that the study examine the impacts to fish and human health and the effectiveness of mitigations implemented so far.
“Who is going to be responsible for cleaning up over a century of leaching contamination once the coal is all mined out? Because that will happen,” he said.
Teck Resources, the Canadian mining company that owned the mines until last summer, has invested more than $1.4 billion in water treatment and other measures to address the pollution since the B.C. government ordered the company to develop a water quality plan in 2013. The mines are now operated by Elk Valley Resources, which is majority-owned by the Swiss mining giant Glencore.
To date, four water treatment facilities have capacity to treat 77.5 million litres of water per day, according to Chris Stannell, the communications manager for Elk Valley Resources.
Between 95 and 99 per cent of selenium is removed from treated water, he said in a statement to The Narwhal, adding the company expects to increase treatment capacity to 150 million litres per day by 2027.
“The plan is working, selenium concentrations have stabilized and are now reducing downstream of treatment,” he said.
But the company isn’t able to treat all of the impacted water flowing past its mines, particularly during the spring snow-melt, when stream flows are higher than other times of year.
The latest available data on the province’s Elk Valley water quality hub shows water treatment facilities at the coal mines are removing a portion of selenium pollution affecting the watershed. Graph: Government of British Columbia
Wiebe said the water treatment plants will have to be in operation for hundreds of years, pushing the costs of addressing pollution well into the future, adding that it’s “huge” that the study board will look at ways to mitigate that pollution.
Stannell said Elk Valley Resources “is reviewing the study plan and looks forward to participating in the consultation being conducted by the [commission].”
A spokesperson for B.C.’s Ministry of Environment and Parks said the provincial government is also reviewing the draft study plan and would have more to say as the work moves forward.
“We are supportive and fully engaging in the process with the International Joint Committee,” the spokesperson said. “We see this as an opportunity to build upon existing work and enhance information sharing and transparency to the benefit of the region’s people and ecologically responsible resource development.”
Another year of keeping a close watch
Here at The Narwhal, we don’t use profit, awards or pageviews to measure success. The thing that matters most is real-world impact — evidence that our reporting influenced citizens to hold power to account and pushed policymakers to do better.
And in 2024, our stories were raised in parliaments across the country and cited by citizens in their petitions and letters to politicians.
In Alberta, our reporting revealed Premier Danielle Smith made false statements about the controversial renewables pause. In Manitoba, we proved that officials failed to formally inspect a leaky pipeline for years. And our investigations on a leaked recording of TC Energy executives were called “the most important Canadian political story of the year.”
Here at The Narwhal, we don’t use profit, awards or pageviews to measure success. The thing that matters most is real-world impact — evidence that our reporting influenced citizens to hold power to account and pushed policymakers to do better.
And in 2024, our stories were raised in parliaments across the country and cited by citizens in their petitions and letters to politicians.
In Alberta, our reporting revealed Premier Danielle Smith made false statements about the controversial renewables pause. In Manitoba, we proved that officials failed to formally inspect a leaky pipeline for years. And our investigations on a leaked recording of TC Energy executives were called “the most important Canadian political story of the year.”
Get the inside scoop on The Narwhal’s environment and climate reporting by signing up for our free newsletter. White-throated sparrows teach each other new songs on...
Your access to our journalism is free — always. Sign up for our weekly newsletter for investigative reporting on the natural world in Canada you won’t find anywhere else.
Your access to our journalism is free — always. Sign up for our weekly newsletter for investigative reporting on the natural world in Canada you won’t find anywhere else.
