The Red Dog lead and zinc mine, operated by Teck Cominco Inc., has seriously and continually violated EPA regulations, according to a lawsuit brought last summer by the nearby village of Kivalina, 80 miles from Kotzebue in northwestern Alaska. Pre-trial motions begin soon, but it is not clear when a ruling will be reached. Among the 3,200 alleged violations, excessive cyanide discharge into Red Dog Creek is particularly damaging, Kivalina claims, and the pollution has leached into the Wulik River, the village’s main source of drinking water. Chalky water that leaves a residue on dishes and pots is a sign of pollution, it is claimed. Local fishermen have also noticed increasing deformities in the dolly varden trout that are critical to the Inupiat village’s subsistence activities. One resident reports seeing a trout with completely exposed bone from the midsection to the tail. He was shocked the fish was actually alive and swimming toward him. Teck Cominco admits that it has exceeded EPA regulations, but claims to have reached a special agreement with the EPA, a “compliance order by consent,” that makes its actions legal. The company also doubts the chalky water is related to the mine, arguing that public water facilities or an upstream sulphur deposit are most likely the cause. In addition, Teck Cominco notes that Red Dog Creek was too acidic to support fish before mining began in 1989, so the mine has had a beneficial effect, the company claims. The people of Nunavut are carefully watching this case as Teck Cominco begins the reclamation phase of its Polaris mine in Nunavut.
