Montana environmental regulators are poised make a decision whether to scrap a water pollution standard at Lake Koocanusa or the Kootenai River in northwest Montana.
For decades, the Teck Resources British Columbia coal mine operations have been leaking selenium. This has polluted both Lake Koocanusa in British Columbia and the Kootenai river in Montana. Fish reproduction is affected by high levels of selenium.
In 2020, Montana’s environmental regulators and the United States approved a stricter standard for selenium in the transboundary Lake Koocanusa. The river is downstream.
Teck Resources and Lincoln County commissioners requested that the Montana Board of Environmental Review reverse the selenium rule. Both the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and EarthJustice asked the board for an exemption to these requests.
The board will consider public comments and make a decision at its next meeting on February 25.