Nicole Hancock
Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony ...

Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.

Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony to heal Chedoke Creek

Teck Resources

U.S., Canada and Ktunaxa Nation to discuss coal-mining pollution in Kootenai River watershed

U.S., Canada and Ktunaxa Nation to discuss coal-mining pollution in Kootenai River watershed

After years of delays and false starts, eight governments impacted by an expansive Canadian coal-mining operation are set to meet today on Indigenous territory in Cranbrook, British Columbia, to discuss the future of the governments’ shared waterways. The meeting will include representatives from the federal governments of the United States and Canada and the Ktunaxa Nation Council, which advocates for the interests of six bands of Indigenous people spread across present-day British Columbia, Montana and Idaho. The council, which includes representation from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, has for years asked for greater oversight of Teck Resources’ British Columbia-based coal-mining operation.

Conservatives oppose potential Teck Resources takeover by Glencore

Conservatives oppose potential Teck Resources takeover by Glencore

A trio of Conservative MPs called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the federal government to be more responsive to attempts by Swiss-based Glencore to take over Canadian mining giant Teck Resources Ltd. through a shareholder deal. Kootenay-Columbia MP Rob Morrison was joined by Rick Perkins, MP for South Shore—St. Margarets and opposition critic for innovation, science and industry, and Foothills MP John Barlow, along with Elkford mayor Steve Fairbairn.

$1.2B later, Teck Resources has barely put a dent in its pollution problems, documents show

$1.2B later, Teck Resources has barely put a dent in its pollution problems, documents show

As Teck Resources plans to distance itself from coal, government records show the mining giant remains a long way from solving the widespread contamination of local rivers and creeks — despite having already invested $1.2 billion in water treatment. Last year, selenium levels 267 times higher than what’s considered safe for aquatic life were detected in waters directly affected by Teck’s Elk Valley mines, according to an internal government meeting note obtained by The Narwhal through a freedom of information request.

B.C. fines Teck Coal $16 million for contaminating Kootenay waterways

B.C. fines Teck Coal $16 million for contaminating Kootenay waterways

A Canadian mining company has been fined more than $16 million for polluting waterways in B.C.'s East Kootenay. The B.C. Ministry of Environment has imposed three administrative penalties on Teck Coal Limited, a subsidiary of Teck Resources, citing the company's failure to have water treatment facilities ready by a required date to limit emissions of nitrate and selenium from its Fording River operations in the Elk Valley.

Mining Association of B.C. offers cash prize for water innovation

Mining Association of B.C. offers cash prize for water innovation

Companies that come up with new ways to conserve and treat water in B.C. mining operations have a chance to win $150,000, in a contest organized by the Mining Association of B.C. MABC president Michael Goehring announced the industry’s first-ever Mining Innovation Challenge on Thursday. Co-sponsored by the B.C. government, Natural Resources Canada and industry players Teck Resources and Newcrest Mining, the competition for entrepreneurs is open until Feb. 18 for expressions of interest, with a winner to be announced at the end of June.

Canadian mining can have an impact in the U.S.

Canadian mining can have an impact in the U.S.

A Canadian mining company is responsible for selenium pollution entering North Idaho waters. Teck Resources is a mining company in British Columbia. Waste rock from four of their mines have been leaching selenium into the Kootenai River Watershed since the early 1980s. Selenium is toxic at high levels. Since 2017, the population of westslope cutthroat trout in this watershed has decreased by 93% because of selenium pollution.

Canadian Coal Company Petitions Montana to Weaken Water Quality Standard

Canadian Coal Company Petitions Montana to Weaken Water Quality Standard

The largest diversified mining corporation in Canada has petitioned environmental regulators in Montana to weaken a new water quality standard at the international border, where for years pollutants have been leaching from the company’s British Columbia coal mines into the Kootenai River basin, including Lake Koocanusa. The company behind the petition, Teck Resources Limited, is solely responsible for the release of mining contaminants into tributaries of B.C.’s Elk River, which enters Montana at the U.S.-Canada border before joining the Kootenai River.

Monitors doubt Teck mining company’s water fixes selenium issue

Monitors doubt Teck mining company’s water fixes selenium issue

As Teck Resources hopes to expand its mountaintop-removal coal mining in British Columbia, water quality monitors in Canada and the United States warn the company’s existing mines already cause significant ecological damage. In 2019, the company’s research revealed that more than 90% of the cutthroat trout population had vanished in a 37-mile reach of the Upper Fording River near its mines around Sparwood, British Columbia. On March 26, Teck pleaded guilty to two counts of illegally discharging selenium and other pollutants into the watershed and paid a $60 million fine – the largest of its kind in Canadian history.

Monitors doubt mining company's water fixes

Monitors doubt mining company's water fixes

As Teck Resources hopes to expand its mountaintop-removal coal mining in British Columbia, water quality monitors in Canada and the United States warn the company’s existing mines already cause significant ecological damage. In 2019, the company’s own research revealed that more than 90% of the cutthroat trout population had vanished in a 60-kilometer (37-mile) reach of the Upper Fording River near its mines around Sparwood, British Columbia. On March 26, Teck pleaded guilty to two counts of illegally discharging selenium and other pollutants into the watershed and paid a $60 million fine — the largest of its kind in Canadian history.

Coal company Teck fined $60M for contaminating rivers in southeastern B.C.

Coal company Teck fined $60M for contaminating rivers in southeastern B.C.

A Canadian coal-mining company faces the largest fine imposed under the Fisheries Act after pleading guilty to contaminating waterways in southeastern British Columbia. Teck Coal, a subsidiary of Teck Resources, is to pay $60 million after a judge on Friday agreed to a joint submission from Environment Canada and the company. "Teck did not exercise all due diligence to prevent the deposit of coal mine waste rock leachate into the Fording River from settling ponds," federal prosecutor Alexander Clarkson, reading from an agreed statement of facts, said in B.C. provincial court.

Contaminant from coal mines already high in some Alberta rivers: unreported data

Contaminant from coal mines already high in some Alberta rivers: unreported data

The province's plan for large-scale expansion of the industry is fueling widespread criticism that includes concerns over selenium pollution. The data shows that same contaminant has been found for years at high levels downstream of three mines and never publicly reported. The findings raise questions about Alberta Environment, said a former senior official who has seen the data. "There were lots of [selenium] numbers and it was consistently above the water quality guidelines and in many cases way higher," said Bill Donahue, the department's one-time executive director of science. "Why did Alberta Environment sit on these data for easily the last 10 to 15 years?"

New technique could help decontaminate oilsands process water

New technique could help decontaminate oilsands process water

New technology developed by engineers at the University of Alberta shows potential in cleaning and decontaminating process water from oilsands production. The process relies on ozonation and biofilters to remove organic compounds from contaminated water. The study, published in Science of the Total Environment, demonstrates that the method, previously used to clean pharmaceutical waste water, efficiently removes naphthenic acids, considered to be one of the main contaminants in oilsands process water.

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