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Another spill at Teck Comino |
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Wednesday, 04 June 2008 |
Columbia River monitored
after acid spill at Trail, B.C. plant
BY CHRIS COWBROUGH
S-E Editor
The massive Teck Cominco smelter in Trail, B.C. reportedly spilled upwards of 100 gallons of hydrofluoric acid and 2,100 pounds of lead into the Columbia River late last Wednesday after¬noon.
Teck Cominco officials said that between 5 and 5:30 p.m. on May 28, a heat exchanger in the lead refinery of the Trail Opera¬tions failed, allowing electrolyte, an acidic solution containing lead, to “get into the Columbia River through an industrial out¬let.”
Teck Cominco said they are in¬vestigating the incident. Down¬river, Washington state officials are monitoring the lead and acid spill and any possible effects to the environment and water qual¬ity.
The spill from a leak in a lead refinery pipe reportedly contin¬ued until about 9 p.m. on Wednesday.
According to officials with the British Columbia government, the chemically contaminated water traveled into a storm sewer and then into the Columbia River.
According to Richard Deane, Manager, Energy and Public Af¬fairs for Teck Cominco, “the plant’s environmental monitoring system detected the problem, en¬vironmental control procedures were immediately activated and the lead refinery was temporarily shut down to prevent further re¬lease of the solution.”
DOE notified later
Deane said that Trail Opera¬tions immediately notified the Provincial Emergency Program (PEP), the Ministry of Environ¬ment and Environment Canada and will continue to cooperate fully with all regulatory agencies to manage the incident.
The Washington Department of Ecology was notified of the spill shortly after midnight.
Teck Cominco officials said that the Columbia River, which is free flowing at Trail, likely diluted the toxic solution enough so it posed no health issues to Cana¬dian and U.S. residents living downriver.
The latest incident drew the ire of Department of Ecology offi¬cials.
“Historically, Washington’s en¬vironment has paid the price for pollution released from this facility,” Washington Depart¬ment of Ecology Director Jay Manning said last week in a statement.
“We will do what we can to minimize the spill’s impact in Washington to protect Lake Roo¬sevelt and the people who live in the area.”
Officials feel that it’s unlikely any groundwater wells would be affected because the spill was diluted in the river’s spring high flow, fast-running conditions.
The plant was operating again on Thursday.
David Godlewski, TEck Cominco American’s manager of environmental and public affairs (Spokane), said the company is assessing its ability to respond to such incidents.
“We are taking this very seriously and are conducting a full investigation,” Godlewski said. “We are looking at how we can improve our response.”
From an historical perspec¬tive, Teck Cominco and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have been battling for years over who should pay to clean up mil¬lions of tons of heavy metals and mercury released into the Co¬lumbia River during a century-plus of smelter operations.
Cross-border battle
The case has international ramifications and repercussions. The U.S. government has con¬tended that its laws apply to a Canadian company that operates in Canada beause the pollution flowed across the border.
The Vancouver, B.C.-based Teck Cominco has taken a differ¬ent stance.
In January, the U.S. Supreme Court denied an appeal by Teck Cominco of a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that said the company was responsible for cleaning up the Columbia River.
Teck Cominco has argued that it is not subject to Superfund clean-up regulations.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 11 June 2008 )
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