A federal judge ruled Friday that his court has jurisdiction to apply the U.S. Superfund law to a Canadian company that acknowledges polluting Lake Roosevelt in Washington state.
U.S. District Judge Lonny Suko of Yakima ruled against Teck Metals Ltd. of Vancouver, British Columbia, in a long-running case involving pollution of the lake in northeastern Washington. Cleanup has been estimated to cost up to $1 billion.
Teck Metals operates a giant lead and zinc smelter in Trail, British Columbia, about 10 miles from the U.S. border.
The company has acknowledged that pollution from that smelter traveled down the Columbia River into Lake Roosevelt. But it has said that as a company operating in Canada, it is not subject to U.S. environmental laws and cannot be ordered to pay for cleanup.
Suko ruled in a lawsuit brought against Teck by the state of Washington and the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation.
Teck can appeal the ruling, but state officials are hopeful it will instead apply its energies to cleaning up the pollution.
"Our hope is the company will accept facts and work with us in the context of U.S. law to resolve the contamination they caused," said Jim Pendowski of the state Department of Ecology.
Teck Metals, previously known as Teck Cominco, contends that attempting to hold it liable for the pollution interferes with the sovereign authority of Canada and British Columbia. The Canadian government has repeatedly expressed disapproval over the case, including sending a diplomatic note of protest to the State Department.
Teck has not decided if it will appeal, spokesman Dave Godlewski said.
Preliminary data from the company's study of the lake shows the environmental damage is minimal, he said.
