Alaska delegation asks Biden to act on Canadian mining near transboundary rivers

Rep. Mary Peltola, Sen. Dan Sullivan and, Sen. Lisa Murkowski. (Brian Venua/KMXT)

The 3 members of Alaska’s Congressional delegation are calling for action from President Joe Biden connected transboundary mining successful British Columbia upstream of respective Southeast Alaska rivers.

In a joint letter sent to nan president past week, U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and Rep. Mary Peltola expressed interest complete nan impacts mining projects successful nan Canadian state are having connected U.S. communities and resources downstream. 

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The missive said that without national recourse, Canadian mining activity could progressively harm salmon runs successful Alaska and nan environment. The missive CC’d nan Secretary of State, nan caput of nan U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and aggregate members of nan International Joint Commission, which oversees issues affecting waterways on nan Canada–U.S. border.

The bipartisan delegation wrote that they person pushed 3 different presidents astatine this constituent for financial and biology protections of nan Taku, Stikine, and Unuk rivers successful Southeast Alaska, each of which they said person been adversely affected by Canadian mining projects astatine their headwaters.

The Delegation is renewing nan telephone for action aft a recent infrastructure failure at a golden excavation successful nan Yukon led to a landslide which leaked excavation waste, including cyanide, into a adjacent creek that is portion of nan transboundary Yukon River system. The Yukon authorities recovered successful a water value report that, successful immoderate areas, nan cyanide levels were capable to wreak important harm connected aquatic life. 

“The nonaccomplishment was caused by mediocre creation and negligence,” nan missive states. It said: “We are only now opening to understand nan existent standard of nan biology impacts, and each update is much discouraging than nan last.”

Murkowski, Peltola, and Sullivan said that they “recognize that nan minerals that travel from Canadian mines are a cardinal portion of U.S. and allied nationalist information and an important portion of assets development.” But they said sacrificing our situation for power and nationalist information isn’t a basal trade-off. 

And so, they are asking Biden to publically request that Canada cleanable up an abandoned excavation successful British Columbia that nan delegation said has been polluting world waters for decades and that each stakeholders – meaning Alaska, British Columbia, nan U.S., Canada, and Indigenous groups – found a binding, enforceable world model nether nan world committee to forestall disputes for illustration this successful nan future.