RIVERS WITHOUT BORDERS

The Taku is a “River to Watch” on the 2010 BC Endangered Rivers List

 The Taku’s placement as a ‘River to watch’ on the Outdoor Recreation Council of BC’s annual Endangered Rivers List is a distinction that many people in both BC and Alaska hope will never amount to anything.

The nearly two million hectare Taku watershed straddles the border between northwestern BC and Southeast Alaska. It is vast, intact and abundant wilderness region. The Taku River at the watershed’s heart is the third largest salmon producer in BC, hosting all five species of wild Pacific salmon in an intact wilderness watershed uncontaminated by sea lice, and not fragmented by roads and other industrial development.

“In terms of what is at stake, for BC, for the local Taku River Tlingit First Nation, for Pacific salmon populations; the Taku would be high on any list. The fact that we are fortunate enough to still have an opportunity to protect the ecological and cultural values in this region, gives us the position of a ‘river to watch’” said Nola Poirier with Rivers Without Borders.

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Alaska: Parnell should make Taku River a priority

 Monday, August 31, 2009   
Parnell should make Taku River a priority
Letter to the editor 

Thanks for the Juneau Empire article last week discussing the Taku River and its contribution to Juneau’s sport fishing. Taku River salmon account for about 90 percent of our spring king catch, 25 percent of sport-caught kings during the rest of the season and one third of the local coho harvest. The Taku is the most productive river in Southeast. Its wild salmon support hundreds of jobs and provide millions of dollars in revenue to Southeast Alaska. 

In a clear indicator of the importance of the Taku to Alaska, former Gov. Sarah Palin, on one of her last days in office, sent a formal request to the government of British Columbia urging the cleanup of highly toxic discharges from the Tulsequah Chief mine. For 50 years, the mine has been polluting the Tulsequah River with acid mine drainage found by Canadian regulatory agencies to be "acutely lethal" to aquatic organisms. 

The owner, mining company Redfern Resources, is bankrupt and has essentially abandoned the Tulsequah Chief Mine. Redfern recently removed most of the equipment and a water treatment plant from the mine site in order to sell them to pay creditors, despite a specific request from Palin not to do this. The British Columbia government has largely ignored the problem, while Environment Canada has issued a series of cleanup orders but has done little to enforce them. 

Alaska’s Department of Natural Resources and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game have vigilantly protected the Taku River’s fisheries, but it is important that they keep the pressure on British Columbia and the rest of Canada to clean up this mess. Since the British Columbian government has so far ignored Palin’s letter, I urge Gov. Sean Parnell to continue efforts to halt the pollution from the Tulsequah Chief Mine. 

Alaska has managed the Taku River to protect water quality and healthy spawning habitat, which will ensure that the Taku’s rich fisheries continue to benefit many generations of Southeast Alaska families and businesses. But we need to engage with British Columbia more. While the Alaska side of the Taku provides the majority of the rearing habitat for juvenile salmon, the British Columbia side has the majority of the spawning habitat. 

I hope Parnell makes the Taku a priority. As Randy Bates, director of the Alaska Coastal Management Program, said in February about the Taku River, "There are certain areas that warrant just a little more protection." 

Chris Zimmer, Juneau

Gov. Palin Urges BC to Clean Up Abandoned Tulsequah Chief Mine

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                             CONTACT: 

July 20, 2009                                     Chris Zimmer, 907/586-2166,

                                                                                    Zimmer@riverswithoutborders.org

Gov. Palin Urges BC to Clean Up Abandoned Tulsequah Chief Mine

Bankrupt Mining Company Ignores Clean Up Order, Removes Water Treatment

Plant from Mine site

(Juneau)  Rivers Without Borders today applauded Governor Sarah Palin and Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Commissioner Tom Irwin for their recent letters to British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell and the court-appointed receiver for bankrupt junior Canadian mining company Redfern Resources urging a prompt cleanup of the chronic Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) pollution from the abandoned Tulsequah Chief mine. 

“For more than 50 years the BC provincial and Canadian federal governments have allowed the Tulsequah Chief mine to pollute the Taku Watershed, Southeast Alaska’s most productive salmon fishery, with acid mine drainage that their own inspectors have found to be “acutely lethal” to aquatic organisms,”  said Chris Zimmer, Alaska Campaign Director for Rivers Without Borders.  “Governor Palin has indicated her willingness to cooperate in solving this problem in Alaska’s backyard and we hope the Canadians take her up on the offer.”

On July 1 Palin wrote to Premier Campbell that “In order to protect water quality and assure the continued health of the valuable Taku River fisheries, the state of Alaska feels other means [than re-opening the mine] must be promptly implemented for remediating the Tulsequah Chief AMD drainage.”  Palin also included a July 1 letter Irwin sent to the receiver appointed by the Canadian bankruptcy court to deal with Redfern’s debts.  Irwin specifically requested Redfern not sell or remove any equipment currently on site and needed for cleanup, including heavy earthmoving equipment and an interim water treatment plant Redfern had previously barged to the site but not installed.  Irwin also noted that “The discharge has been the subject of clean-up orders by Canadian agencies, most recently an Inspector’s Direction on May 22, 2009 from Environment Canada under the Fisheries Act but has continued largely, if not wholly, unabated.” 

“BC has done nothing to halt this toxic pollution, while Canadian federal agencies continue to issue cleanup orders and do absolutely nothing to enforce them,” said Zimmer.  “Now it looks like Redfern has removed heavy equipment and a water treatment plant from the site, in direct contradiction to the request from Commissioner Irwin.  So, with the mining company bankrupt and abandoning the site and no action from BC or Canada, is toxic mine pollution going to spew into the Taku watershed for another 50 years?  We urge incoming Governor Parnell to keep the pressure on the Canadians.”

Environment Canada issued the most recent cleanup order on May 22, with a deadline of July 15 (see Chronology below).  As of today nothing has been done to comply with that order.  The Tulsequah Chief AMD discharge has been occurring unabated since Cominco closed the mine in the late 1950’s.  The new owner, Redfern, proposed to clean up the AMD once the mine was re-opened but had no plan for cleanup if the mine was not re-developed. 

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Shell’s methane plan in Sacred Headwaters triggers Financial Times ad

September 11, 2007 (Whitehorse, YT) – Rivers Without Borders and seven other international conservation groups are running an advertisement in today’s Financial Times in London, UK, targeting Royal Dutch Shell’s plan for a coalbed methane gas field in northern BC’s Sacred Headwaters.

See the full release.

Alaska and US Federal Agencies Raise Major Concerns and Questions About Hoverbarge Plan

 (JUNEAU)  Alaska and US federal agencies have formally raised a host of concerns about Redcorp’s hoverbarge plan, including significant risks to Taku salmon, a worrisome lack of detail and the need for extensive scientific analysis of the untested technology.  New information from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG), the Alaska Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the US Department of the Interior (DOI) also indicates Redcorp’s fast track permitting and development schedule is unrealistic and the hoverbarge plan faces a very uncertain future.

See the full release here. 

Inspectors Find “Acutely Lethal” Acid Mine Pollution

April 1, 2004
(Juneau) New documents from Canadian federal fisheries and environment ministries demonstrate a history of failure by Redfern Resources Ltd. and British Columbia (BC) to address "acutely lethal" acid mine drainage at the Tulsequah Chief and Big Bull mine sites. These documents also provide evidence that BC has been deceitful about its plans for other industrial development in the Taku watershed. Redfern wants to reopen the Tulsequah Chief mine and construct a 100 mile access road from Atlin, BC to the mine site. The mine site is on the Tulsequah River, main tributary of the Taku, and above several critical salmon spawning and rearing areas.

Click here for the full press release.

BC/Alaska Conservation Alliance calls for Bi-National Assessment of Taku Mine

For immediate Release: January 30, 2007

Fishery too Valuable for Experiment with Unproven Technology

Whitehorse, Yukon and Juneau, Alaska — Rivers Without Borders has called upon authorities in British Columbia, Alaska and at the federal level in Canada and the United States to undertake a full, open and public binational environmental assessment of the new development proposal for the Tulsequah Chief project in northwest British Columbia.

On January 29th, 2007 Redcorp Ventures unveiled a development proposal for the Tulsequah Chief mine, abandoning previous plans for a 100 mile/160 km access road from Atlin, but introducing new and previously unassessed elements including an 8 km road to a barge loading facility and a proposal to “air cushion barge” metal concentrates from that facility down the Taku River to Juneau. The proposal is dramatically different from the previous proposal and would bring more direct impacts on the salmon-rich lower Taku River.

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Amount of Acid Mine Drainage release

The Tulsequah Chief mine annually pollutes the Tulsequah River with nearly 15 tons of heavy metals and has dumped more than 200 tons of these toxins into the river since 1990, according to BC government documents.

Click here for more information about this ongoing problem. 

Shelving of Tulsequah Chief Project threatens site clean-up

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Over 200 Tons of Heavy Metals Discharged Into River So Far With No End in Sight

(JUNEAU)  Heavy metal pollution from the Tulsequah Chief mine is likely to continue without adequate cleanup due to an announcement from the mining company that it is placing the project on hold due to economic problems.  A key issue is whether Environment Canada will enforce the cleanup order and its June 30 deadline to stop the ongoing heavy metal pollution.   The Tulsequah Chief mine annually pollutes the Tulsequah River with nearly 15 tons of heavy metals and has dumped more than 200 tons of these toxins into the river since 1990, according to BC government documents.

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Canadian Feds issue draft mine approval after backroom dealing

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 6, 2005                                          

Alaskan Salmon Impacts Ignored
 
Canada’s federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) yesterday released a draft report recommending approval of the Tulsequah Chief mine and road project. Ignoring extensive  information to the contrary, including data from Canadian departments, DFO concludes that construction of a 100 mile road into the watershed and operation of an acid-generating mine on the bank of the salmon-rich Tulsequah River “is not likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.”  A 45 day public comment period will run through February 18.
 
“Canada has decided to ignore local, state and federal concerns about damages to fisheries and water quality by recommending approval.  Apparently significant environmental effects impacting the people of Juneau don’t show up on their radar,” said Chris Zimmer of the Transboundary Watershed Alliance. “They also continue to show their contempt for Alaskans by refusing to come to Juneau to publicly explain this politically motivated recommendation.”
 
There was little new scientific information or analysis in the draft screening report. In contrast to the US process, important details regarding the tailings pond, road, discharge pond and other issues will be dealt with in a permitting process after Redfern receives its DFO approval. The recommended approval is largely based on the decision by DFO officials to ignore their own Minister’s conclusion in 2004 that “DFO understands that its Fisheries Act and CEAA reviews would be best served by considering potential environmental effects of extended use of the road after mine site closure.”  Instead, DFO officials assume the road will be decommissioned, even though the Project Approval Certificate issued by British Columbia in 2002 leaves the door open for the road to exist in perpetuity.
 
“DFO clearly rolled over after political pressure from Redfern and BC. DFO officials even cut a backroom deal with Redfern officials to speed the approval process at the same time DFO was refusing requests for their officials to come and meet face-to-face with the Mayor and citizens of Juneau,” said Zimmer.
 
Documents obtained under the Canadian Access to Information request show that top DFO officials held secret meetings with the President of Redfern, a top BC official and a lobbyist on May 31, 2004. Immediately after the meeting, a top official from DFO sent instructions to his staff to accelerate the environmental assessment of the controversial Tulsequah Chief mine with Chandler and the lobbyist receiving assurances that subsequent Fisheries Act authorizations would be granted “immediately thereafter.”
 
“It’s clear that when Alaskan interests came up against Redfern’s interests, DFO sided 100% with the mining company,” said Zimmer. “They have completely forgotten their legislated duty to protect fisheries, and instead cut a backroom deal to protect Redfern, a mining company, from the threat wild salmon pose to their bottom line.”

CONTACT: Chris Zimmer, Transboundary Watershed Alliance, 907/586-4905

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