Alaskans question B.C. government's efforts to clean up the Tulsequah Chief mine site

Alaskan tribes, conservation groups, and fishers want more information, and involvement, when it comes to the B.C. government's plan to clean up the Tulsequah Chief mine site in northwestern B.C.

In 2019, the province committed to cleaning up the abandoned mine site, which is about 80 kilometres south of Atlin, B.C., and near the Alaska border. Since then, some Alaskans have felt the B.C. government hasn't been transparent with the process.

This week, several groups in the state sent a letter to U.S. officials urging them to pressure the B.C. government to protect the Taku River, its salmon, and to finally clean up the Tulsequah Chief site. It also raises concerns about the province having initiated an environmental review process for another new gold mine in the same area.

The proposed New Polaris gold mine, owned by Vancouver-based Canagold, is located roughly 100 kilometres south of Atlin and next to the Tulsequah Chief site.

Chris Zimmer, Alaska's director of Rivers Without Borders, says dealing with Tulsequah Chief should be a priority. 

"There's still some frustration here in Alaska about the slow pace of the cleanup," he told CBC News.

"We see some of the deadlines continue to change," Zimmer said. "There's not really a written schedule of the cleanup activities, and how they'll be accomplished, and when they'll be done."

Tulsequah Chief was in operation from 1951 to 1957, producing gold, silver, zinc, copper and other minerals. It's been inactive since then, although two companies have tried to revive the mine in recent years with no success.Its most recent owner, Chieftain Metals Corp., acquired the site in 2010 and constructed a water treatment plant to deal with the tailings, but the plant lasted just nine months before shutting down. Chieftain Metals went bankrupt in 2016. 

The mine has remained a source of concern for many Alaskans as acid run-off continues to seep from the Tulsequah River into the Taku River, and downstream toward Juneau.

Zimmer said the lack of consultation and transparency around the clean up from the B.C. government has resulted in Alaskans turning to U.S. officials in Washington, D.C., to put pressure on the province to expedite the process.

"This is an international issue," Zimmer said. "We've got an international border with a transboundary river. We have treaties in play. So this is clearly not just an Alaska/B.C. issue ... our thinking is it's a federal issue."

A letter dated Sept. 10, signed by close to three dozen Alaskan groups and sent to Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Sen.Dan Sullivan, and Rep. Mary Peltola of Alaska, as well as U.S. Secretary of State Anthony J. Blinken and the Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael S. Regan, outlined the concerns of Alaskans. 

The letter explained that the Taku River is usually Southeast Alaska's largest overall salmon producer and with salmon runs severely affected by oceanic environmental factors that cannot be corrected at present, Alaskans must do all they can to protect critical freshwater salmon habitat.

The letter also said that there should be no further consideration of developing the New Polaris mine until the pollution from Tulsequah Chief has been mitigated. Canagold proposes to open the underground gold mine by re-developing a former mine and town site, previously known as the Polaris Taku mine, which operated intermittently between 1937 and 1951.