B.C. mining company fights pollution suit

By The Associated Press

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The U.S. District Court hearing was the latest step in a conflict between Canada and the United States over cross-border enforcement of environmental laws.

Late last year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency demanded that Teck Cominco of Vancouver, B.C., pay to study and clean up heavy-metals the EPA says flowed for decades down the Columbia from Teck's giant smelter in Trail, B.C., and into Washington waters. The lead-zinc smelter is about 10 miles north of the border.

The Colville Confederated Tribes sued the company in July for failing to comply with that order. In September, the state joined the lawsuit.

Teck Cominco argued yesterday the dispute should be resolved via diplomatic channels, rather than in the courts.

Imposing U.S. environmental regulations on a Canadian company operating on Canadian soil violates that nation's sovereign rights, said Gerald George, a San Francisco attorney representing the mining company.

The Canadian government should determine the appropriate operation of Canadian companies, he said.

Otherwise, the United States essentially imposes a "zero discharge" order on foreign companies operating in their own countries, he said.

Lawyers for the tribe and the state argued the United States is well within its bounds to demand cleanup. They contend as much as 20 million tons of heavy metals from the smelter traveled down the river to Lake Roosevelt,

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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