Teck seeks dismissal in Lake Roosevelt lawsuit

An Aboriginal group in northeastern Washington state has filed a suit to force the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to enforce an administrative order against Teck Cominco (TEK-T) that would declare Lake Roosevelt a Superfund site. The lake is a reservoir on the Columbia River system.

Teck filed for dismissal of the suit in late August, after the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation sought a court order to require the EPA to enforce its administrative order, issued last December, in which it ordered Teck to submit to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980.

The act enables the EPA to designate Superfund sites, which become eligible for federal funding for environmental cleanups if responsible parties cannot be found to cover the costs. The effect of a Superfund designation would be to force the EPA to sue Teck for the cleanup of the lake.

The EPA broke off negotiations with Teck in November 2003 after Teck offered to fund a $13-million study of pollution in Lake Roosevelt, which is downstream from Teck’s Trail lead and zinc smelter. Historic discharges by Cominco are generally agreed to have been a major source of metal pollution in the lake.

Teck and the Canadian government have objected to the designation under the Superfund law, arguing that it is an extra-territorial application of a U.S. act. They propose that the dispute should be handled bilaterally; the two countries have a joint environmental monitoring program for the Columbia River watershed.