OPINION: Abandoned Tulsequa Chief mine is a festering scar on Alaska’s Taku River

It’s hard to believe that the abandoned Tulsequa Chief Mine, just across Canada’s Alaska border, has been discharging toxic, acidic, metal-laden wastewater into the Taku River watershed for nearly 70 years. Despite Canada’s kaleidoscope of excuses, corporate bankruptcies and empty promises, there has been no meaningful on-the-ground effort to clean up this mess in Southeast Alaska’s most prolific salmon-producing river system. It means that it is not done.

Alaskans have been demanding a resolution to the Tulsequa issue for decades. Having served as Alaska Fish and Game Habitat Director from 1988 until 2002, and then as Commissioner, I was well aware of Chief Tulsequa’s problems and was involved in efforts to resolve them. Governor Tony Knowles petitioned the U.S. State Department to refer the issue to an international joint commission, but the federal government would not take up the issue. However, Alaska residents, including the Douglas Indian Association, the Alaska Commercial and Sport Fishing Association, local governments, and conservation groups, continue to call for the Tulsequa Chief mine to be cleaned up.

Finally, eight years ago, British Columbia committed to ending pollution. While the state government deserves some credit for the steps it has since taken to achieve the cleanup, it has stopped paying lip service to the on-site efforts needed to finally stop the acid drain, close the drains and recover it. The time has come to start working on it. Tulsequa Chief Mine.

The obligation to clean up Tulsequa is further heightened by the proposed new Polaris gold mine, which is currently undergoing review by the province of British Columbia. The new Polaris will be located very close to Chief Tarsequa. It is unconscionable that the state tolerates the development of new mines on the lower Taku River, almost a stone’s throw from Alaska, while older mines continue to blight the Taku watershed.

From my perspective, Chief Tarsequa should serve as a wake-up call against mining in British Columbia and Alaska’s shared watershed. Tarsequa His Chief was just a small underground mine, a very modest project by the standards of today’s giant mines. If the nearly 70-year-old pollution problem remains unresolved despite numerous high-level calls for action across borders and many pleasant meetings and memos, then Canada’s giant What are the chances that a mining project will materialize? Will proposed cross-border areas be developed, operated, and filled in a manner that protects Alaska’s interests?

It doesn’t have to be this way. In 1909, the United States and Canada signed the Boundary Waters Treaty to address water flow, water pollution, and other transboundary resource issues. The two countries have reached agreements elsewhere on contentious issues. Given the large number of Canadian mines proposed and permitted in the Taku, Stikine, and Unuk basins, the risk is high enough that the U.S. and Canada must resolve issues such as water flow and water quality standards, tailings treatment, etc. should engage an international joint committee to ensure that Canada’s guarantees to protect downstream water quality and flow regimes are backed by enforceable policies, including mine reclamation, bonding requirements, etc. It is determined. I urge our federal delegation, the Governor, and the Alaska Legislature to join communities and organizations in Southeast Alaska to protect Alaska’s interests as mining continues to develop in British Columbia. The International Joint Commission provides the appropriate forum to ensure that mining in our shared watersheds protects water quality, respects the interests of indigenous peoples, and prioritizes long-term sustainable management over short-term profits. I think it is.

But first and foremost, as a gesture of goodwill and a demonstration of the ability to get things done on the ground, the Tulsequa Chief Mine finally needs to be properly reclaimed after nearly 70 years. Taku deserves better. So do indigenous peoples, who have long-standing ties to watersheds, commerce, livelihoods, sport, and all the stakeholders and communities who count on Taku as an economically vital and life-giving natural resource.

Frank Lu He served as Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game from 1995 to 2002. He lives in Juneau.

The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Anchorage Daily News, which welcomes a wide range of viewpoints.To submit your work for consideration, please send an email Commentary(at)adn.com. Submissions of less than 200 words should be sent to: [email protected] or Click here to submit from any web browser.Read all guidelines for letters and comments here.