U.S., Canada file joint reference on selenium pollution in Kootenai Watershed
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News from the office of Senator Tester
U.S. SENATE — The United States and Canada recently announced a Joint Reference to the International Joint Commission (IJC) instructing an Independent Governing Body to investigate pollution in the Kootenai Watershed caused by mining in Canada.
“Montanans, Tribes, small businesses, and families rely on clean water for everything from agriculture to community development, and after years of working with stakeholders in the Treasure State to tackle this issue, I’m pleased to see Canada finally coming to the table to find solutions,” said Tester. “We’ve known for years that mining in British Columbia has been polluting the Kootenai watershed, which is why I’ve been pushing for substantive action for nearly a decade. This is a big first step towards addressing the problem, but I’ll continue to put pressure on the State Department to hold the Canadian government accountable in order to protect one of our state’s most important watersheds.”
The Montana Department of Environmental Quality has continually found increased levels of contamination, including selenium, nitrates, sedimentation, and other impairments thought to be associated with Canadian open-pit coal mining in the watershed, and in 2019 researchers at the EPA and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) found high levels of selenium in fish eggs and tissues. State and federal agencies have found elevated selenium levels in fish as far downstream as Idaho, and Idaho has declared the Kootenai River an impaired stream. The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT), the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, and the Ktunaxa Tribal First Nation in British Columbia have consistently pushed the Canadian and U.S. governments to jointly refer the issue to the International Joint Commission (IJC).
