B.C.'s push to develop mines in its shared watersheds with Alaska is under increasing scrutiny from the American side of the border.
Concerns over multiple proposed metal mines near the southeast Alaska border has drawn Alaska's Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott -- and a coterie of commercial fishing, conservation and First Nation groups -- to British Columbia this week.
In a visit that coincides with mining week in B.C., Mallott will meet with B.C. Energy and Mines Minister Bill Bennett, Environment Minister Mary Polak, industry representatives and First Nation leaders.
The Alaskan fishing, conservation and aboriginal representatives are in B.C. to build alliances in their push for more scrutiny of the potential effects on Alaska waters that support a multi-billion-dollar fishery.
They believe that B.C.'s review process is not adequate and want Alaska to have a seat at a table, potentially through an international joint commission, to examine potential cumulative effects on water and salmon. The groups are also concerned about compensation if there is a disaster.
The groups already had concerns about the potential cumulative effects on water quality and salmon from mines such as Imperial Metal's $643-million Red Chris mine, which just started production, Seabridge's proposed $5.4-billion KSM project in northwest B.C. and a planned project at the old Tulsequah Chief mine.
But the catastrophic tailings dam spill at Imperial Metals' Mount Polley mine in the B.C. Interior last summer has heightened those concerns, says Heather Hardcastle, a commercial fisherman and the campaign lead for Salmon Beyond Borders.
"Really, we feel there is one of the world's largest mining districts now being created basically in the headwaters of some of the last great salmon watersheds," said Hardcastle.
Of greatest concern are the potential effects on the Stikine, Unuk and Taku rivers.
"Our concern is the cumulative effects that all these proposed mines would have on the water quality and salmon that really feed and nourish our communities. They really fuel our economies," said Jennifer Hanlon, an environmental specialist with the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska.
Hardcastle said they want to see a move away from the storage of mine waste under water behind earth dams, a recommendation from an expert panel that examined the Mount Polley mine dam failure.
The Alaskan groups are meeting with B.C. government officials, First Nations and environmental leaders, and will visit consulates in Vancouver and Seattle.
The Alaskan groups would like to see their concerns raised under the Canada-U. S. Boundary Waters Treaty.
While some federal congressional representatives in Alaska have made an argument for such a move, Alaskan state leaders have not yet weighed in officially.
However, Mallott, of Tlingit native heritage, heads up a working group established by his government last February to examine concerns about the prospective mining boom in northwestern B.C. "I look forward to this trip and seeing first-hand the Canadian side of the transboundary issues," Mallott said in a written statement.
Bennett, the mines minister, said the province needs to do a better job of communicating with Alaskans on how its assessment process works and the fact that state officials have access to its reviews and can comment on them.
"We want to be good neighbours, and we understand their concerns," he said.
However, Bennett said his impression is that the Alaskan groups think B.C. is some outlier in its storage of mine waste under water and behind dams, when it is a standard practice around the world.
"And it has been for a long time, so getting away from it is going to be a worldwide exercise," he said.