For the past 100 years, Teck Resources, a mining company owned and operated in Canada, has been dumping mining waste into the Columbia river which travels into Washington State. Its Trail facility in southeastern B.C. had been transporting effluent and slag into the Upper Columbia River. Tech’s subsidiary, Teck Metals Ltd, agreed to the facts as part of a lawsuit in the US. The plaintiffs of the lawsuit include the First Nations people of Washington State and the state government.
Although the company admits that it did pollute the river over a 100 year period, it does not admit that that the materials polluting the river were harmful to the environment in any way. The company maintains that no humans or animals would have been harmed by the materials, which included zinc, copper, lead, and trace amounts of arsenic and other elements. However, the company is currently funding a research effort by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to find out the extent of the damage caused by the materials. The main issue is the fact that only now, after the addition of pollutants has ceased, is the company funding an effort to find out how the materials effect the environment.
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