RIVERS WITHOUT BORDERS

Beautiful Photography and a Great Blog

Fifty-plus years of pollution…British Columbia’s Tulsequah Chief Mine – That’s how Chris Miller starts out his great blog on the Tulsequah, the old mine (which could become a new one) just above the confluence of the Tulsequah and Taku rivers in British Columbia. Chris traveled there in June 2010 and took some great photos of the area, and the debris and acid mine drainage left at the mine by the former owners (the now bankrupt Redcorp). This mine is now owned by a new company, Chieftain Metals Inc., which was started by the same people that were running Redcorp. Chieftain is working hard to start up the mine again.

Check out Chris’ blog here.

Biodiversity and Climate Action Strategy Report

In a report commissioned by 15 environmental organisations, including Forest Ethics, CPAWS, David Suzuki Foundation, and West Coast Environmental Law, senior scientist, Jim Pojar,  addresses both loss of biodiversity and a strategy for climate action. He calls on the BC government to maintain "intact forest systems, such that 50% of BC’s land base is managed with conservation as the priority goal. He asserts that doing so will "help prevent the release of greenhouse gases, ensure sufficient intact habitats to support healthy numbers of wild species, and help plants and animals adapt to climate change impacts." 

 Read the report summary. 

 Download the full report from Forest Ethics.

Pacific Salmon and Wildlife: Ecological Contexts, Relationships, and Implications for Management

This article from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife discusses many aspects of salmon and trout, and their relationship to the surrounding terrestrial ecosystem.

 Excerpt: "Anadromous salmon play an important role in maintaining an ecosystem’s productivity.  The seasonal migrations of millions of salmon between Pacific rim streams and the subarctic Pacific Ocean appear to increase overall terrestrial productivity.  Key processes discussed here are the transport of materials, energy and nutrients between marine, aquatic, and terrestrial ecosystems with emphasis on salmon as a transport vector."  

Read the full report online.

Watershed Book List

Taku: The Heart of North America’s Last Great Wilderness, by Allison Mitcham (out of print)

Gagiwdul.at: Brought Forth to Reconfirm the Legacy of a Taku River Tlingit Clan, by Elizabeth Nyman and Jeff Leer

Recording Their Story: James Teit and the Tahltan, by Judy Thompson

Stickeen, by John Muir (short story)

Notes from the Century Before, by Edward Hoagland

Stikine: The Great River, by Gary Fiegehen (photography)

Roll On! Discovering the Wild Stikine River, by Bonnie Demerjian

Travels in Alaska, by John Muir

Stikine River, by Alaska Geographic Society

Stikine River: A Guide to Paddling the Great River, by Jennifer Voss

Warriors of the North Pacific: Missionary Accounts of the northwest coast, the Skeena and Stikine Rivers and the Klondike, 1829-1900, by Charles Lillard

To Save the Wild Earth, by Ric Careless

Descent into Madness: The Diary of a Killer, by Vernon Frolick

A Naturalists Guide to the Tatshenshini-Alsek, by Heather Hamilton

Tatshenshini River Wild, by Ken Budd and Ric Careless

Wild Rivers, Wild Lands, by Ken Madsen

Run of the River: Portraits of Eleven British Columbia Rivers, by Mark Hume

More to come…

Chrononlogy of Tulsequah and Big Bull Acid Mine Drainage Clean Up Orders, Inspections and Responses

CHRONOLOGY OF ACID MINE DRAINAGE CLEANUP ORDERS, INSPECTIONS AND COMPANY RESPONSES FOR TULSEQUAH CHIEF AND BIG BULL MINES

• 1957:  Cominco closes the Tulsequah Chief mine without cleanup of Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) or reclamation of the site.
• October 26, 1989:  British Columbia (BC) issues pollution abatement order to Cominco for AMD at the Tulsequah Chief mine site.  It requires a site survey and a cleanup plan.  It was appealed and subsequently upheld. 
• 1990-1992:  Site investigations and a remediation plan done. 
• 1990:  BC first tests the Tulsequah Chief site in 1990, and finds “considerable acid generation,” adding that the water samples taken were “acutely toxic” to fish.
• May 1, 1990: Environmental Assessment filed by Cominco. 
• November 1, 1990: Cominco files a report on Preliminary Environmental Evaluation of the Tulsequah Chief site. 
• August 1, 1991: Cominco files report for Preliminary Plans for Control of AMD and Alternative Abandonment Plans for Tulsequah Chief by Redfern. 
• October 1, 1991: Redfern files report on Site Reconnaissance and Preliminary Acid Generation Control and Site Rehabilitation Plan.
• 1992:  Redfern Resources (now Redfern Ventures, Ltd.) proposes to re-open the Tulsequah Chief mine.
• July 1, 1992: Cominco files report on Mine Site Assessment and Options for Rehabilitation for AMD Abatement
• January 28, 1993: BC issues a pollution abatement order to Redfern for the Tulsequah Chief.  Periodic monitoring reports are required.
• Undated and unsigned memo on Site Remediation-Progress to Date says Redfern has deposited $1.15 million into an escrow account for mine rehabilitation and that the SRK consultants’ rehabilitation plan satisfies the terms of the original abatement order.  Also says that a reduction of 70-80% of the pollution would probably be sufficient.
• April 21, 1994:  Monitoring report received by BC.
• 1998-2003:  BC officials retest the Tulsequah Chief site five times.  BC takes no meaningful action to enforce clean-up
• 1998: Environment Canada (EC) issues warning letters to Redfern about the AMD problem at both its Tulsequah Chief and Big Bull mine sites.
• 1999:  Redfern attempts a fix at the Tulsequah Chief with limestone dams and a disposal field. 
• July 12, 2002: EC issues Inspector’s Directions under the Fisheries Act for Big Bull and Tulsequah Chief sites, ordering Redfern to stop toxic mine drainage from entering the Tulsequah River by September 30, 2003.  The company then plugged some holes and diverted water flows. 
• Fall 2003: EC inspects Tulsequah Chief and finds the attempted fixes aren’t adequate. At Big Bull EC finds significantly less surface water, but toxicity of discharge had not changed.
• October 2003:  Canadian federal investigators visit Redfern’s Tulsequah Chief and Big Bull mine sites and finds that “none of the measures undertaken by Redfern had significantly reduced the acutely lethal toxicity of the ARD [Acid Rock Drainage] discharges from the two mine sites.”
• October 22, 2003: Redfern requests extension of the federal Inspector’s Directions until June 30, 2005. 
• November 27, 2003: Final remediation report from Redfern received by EC.
• May 12, 2004: Both Inspector’s Directions (for Big Bull and Tulsequah Chief) extended until June 30, 2005 with requirement for monthly monitoring reports from Redfern.
• May 28, 2004:  Bruce Rawson, representing Redfern, wrote to EC with a list of concerns for a June 1 meeting and primary was Redfern’s claims that EC’s enforcement actions do not recognize the constraints of the site or Redfern’s limited financial Resources. 
• July 2004:  EC conducts on site inspection. 
• July 2005:  Redfern installs treatment plant at Tulsequah Chief site.  President Terry Chandler says in order to build a better treatment system, the company needs a road into the site and money to run a treatment plant, things that can only be done if the mine is reopened.
• September 2005:  EC inspects Tulsequah Chief site and treatment plant.
• 2006:  EC and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans deny all requests for information on AMD and cleanup from Rivers Without Borders.
• 2007:  BC officials provide no useful information in response to repeated phone, email and letter requests for information on the status of cleanup and AMD pollution.
• May 2, 2007:  Redfern officials deny written and verbal requests for information on the status of cleanup efforts and AMD pollution from Rivers Without Borders.
• March 4, 2009:  Redfern files for bankruptcy protection.
• May 14, 2009:  Inspector Wade Comin inspects Tulsequah Chief site.
• May 22, 2009:  Inspector Comin issues an Inspector’s Direction requiring that pollution be halted by July 15 and that a report be issued by Redfern by August 1, 2009. 
• May 29, 2009:  Bankruptcy court denies Redfern’s request to extend protection and appoints receiver.
• June 16, 2009:  John Heinonen of DFO inspects Tulsequah Chief and issues a trip report.
• July 1, 2009:  Alaska Governor Palin and DNR Commissioner Irwin send letters to Redfern’s receiver and BC Premier Campbell urging mine site cleanup. 
• July 2009:  Redfern removes most of the equipment and a water treatment plant from the site for sale in order to satisfy creditors. 

Sources:

• Environment Minister David Anderson and Fisheries and Oceans Minister Geoff Regan written responses to a petition by citizens of Atlin, BC, 2/12/04. 

• Environment Canada:  Response To Environmental Petition No. 958 Under Section 22 of The Auditor General Act Petitioners: Ms. Nicole Lischewski And Ms. Nan Love, 11/30/05.
• Overview of Mines Act Application:  Pre-Construction Site Cleanup, Redcorp Ventures, September 27, 2007. 
• Redcorp bankruptcy documents on KPMG website, (www.kpmg.ca/en/ms/cl/redcorp/), including Affidavit #4 of Terry Chandler of Redcorp 5/21/09 and Affidavit #1 from Wade Comin of Environment Canada 5/25/09. 

Palin letter to Alaska DNR re: Tulsequah Chief Mine

Sarah Palin writes to the Alaska State Department of Natural Resources to ensure their vigilance on stopping acid mine drainage at teh Tulsequah Chief mine.  Download her letter as a PDF.

Palin letter to Gordon Campbell re: Tulsequah Chief mine

In one of her last acts as Alaska’s governor, Sarah Palin wrote to BC Premier Gordon Campbell to request his help in ensuring the clean up of BC’s acid polluting Tulsequah Chief mine. Download letter as a PDF

Alaska Department of Fish and Game Memo on the Tulsequah Chief Mine Air Cushion Barge Transportation System

Prepared by Alaska Department of Fish and Game Commercial Fish/ Sport Fish Staff on December 5, 2007

This memo was submitted by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game critiquing the proposal to operate a hoverbarge on the Taku River. It was submitted shortly before the Alaskan permitting process was set to commence late in 2007.

Download Memo.

Acid Mine Drainage and Cleanup Overview

May 2007:  When Cominco abandoned the Tulsequah Chief and Big Bull mines in the 1950’s it never cleaned up the toxic legacy of acid mine drainage and heavy metals. Since then these two mine sites have poured tons of these poisons into the waters of the salmon-rich Taku watershed. Redcorp Ventures now owns the two mines and is thus responsible for cleanup. But Redcorp seems more interested in re-opening the Tulsequah Chief mine  then in stopping the pollution and Canadian federal and British Columbia provincial regulatory agencies are letting them get away with this.

Click here for more information. 

Acid Mine Drainage data

This memo provides calculations for the annual amount of toxic heavy metals that leak into the Taku Watershed from the Tulsequah Chief mine.  This is the latest data we have.  Repeated requests for more recent and comprehensive information have been repeatedly denied by Environment Canada, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, BC and Redcorp. 

Click here for the full memo.