University of Victoria's Environmental Law Centre

Federal watchdog urged to investigate Canada’s ‘longstanding failure’ to stop B.C. Elk Valley coal mine pollution

Federal watchdog urged to investigate Canada’s ‘longstanding failure’ to stop B.C. Elk Valley coal mine pollution

Canada’s parliamentary environment watchdog is being urged to investigate whether years of alleged negligence by federal officials have allowed pollution from coal mines to wipe out species of fish and poison drinking water in B.C.’s Elk Valley. The calls for the new federal investigation follow repeated pleas from U.S. government officials based on two decades of scientific evidence about how selenium and other pollutants have flowed into cross-border waterways from Teck Resources coal mines.