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Wednesday, September 1, 2004
State joins tribes' suit to force cleanup of Lake Roosevelt
The state of Washington yesterday joined a federal lawsuit filed by the Colville Confederated Tribes last month that seeks to force a Canadian mining company to comply with a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency order to clean up pollution in Lake Roosevelt.
In July, individual members of the Eastern Washington-based Colville Tribes, whose reservation abuts Lake Roosevelt -- a Columbia River reservoir held behind the Grand Coulee Dam -- sued Teck Cominco for failing to comply with the EPA order issued in December.
The order, issued under the federal Superfund law, charged Teck Cominco with cleaning up toxic metals released into the river for decades from the company's smelter in Trail, B.C., about 10 miles north of the U.S.-Canada border. Under the EPA order, Teck Cominco is supposed to first study the extent of contamination, then pay for its cleanup.
But the Canadian company has argued that the EPA has no jurisdiction over foreign companies, and it has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
Yesterday, Gov. Gary Locke and Attorney General Christine Gregoire announced that the state, which wants Lake Roosevelt cleaned up to state Ecology Department standards, would join the tribe in its legal battle.
In all, Teck Cominco is estimated to have discharged about 10 million tons of slag -- a smelting process byproduct containing lead, zinc and other traces of heavy metals -- into the Columbia River.
The company's motion seeking to dismiss the lawsuit is scheduled in federal court in Yakima for Nov. 4.
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