SPOKANE — Washington state is monitoring a lead and acid spill into the Columbia River from the massive Teck Cominco lead and zinc smelter just across the border in Trail, B.C.
A leak in a lead refinery pipe triggered an alarm late Wednesday afternoon and led to the shutdown of the electrolytic refining plant at the smelter complex on the banks of the Columbia. Some of the acid, which contained lead, ended up in the river, said David Godlewski, Teck Cominco American’s spokesman in Spokane.
Canadian environmental regulators were immediately notified and then informed their U.S. counterparts, Godlewski said.
Teck Cominco said the spill involved a solution containing hydrofluoric acid and lead.
The spill lasted for about four hours, and the Washington State Department of Ecology said it was told that approximately 2,100 pounds of lead and 100 gallons of acid were released into the river.
“Historically, Washington’s environment has paid the price for pollution released from this facility. We are deeply concerned that this spill could add to that unfortunate legacy,” agency director Jay Manning said in a statement.
“We will do what we can to minimize the spill’s impact here in Washington to protect Lake Roosevelt and the people who live in the area,” Manning said.
British Columbia and Washington state officials were trying to determine possible effects on public health and the environment from the spill. It is unlikely any groundwater wells will be affected because the spill was diluted in the river’s spring high-flow conditions, state Ecology officials said.
The Columbia River is running so fast because of winter snowmelt that Teck Cominco believes the acid was almost immediately diluted to nondangerous levels, Godlewski said.
The plant was operating again on Thursday, he said.
Teck Cominco and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have been fighting for years over who must pay to clean up millions of tons of smelter pollutants. The case has international ramifications because the U.S. government is contending that its laws apply to a Canadian company operating in Canada because the pollution crossed the border into the U.S.
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