BILLINGS, Mont. — (AP) — The U.S., Canada and several indigenous groups announced a proposal on Monday to address pollution from coal mining in British Columbia that officials say has been contaminating waterways and harming fisheries on both sides of the border for years.
The proposal would be executed through a century-old U.S.-Canada boundary waters treaty, establishing independent boards to study the pollution’s extent and make cleanup recommendations.
Details were obtained by The Associated Press in advance of the proposal’s public release. It comes after indigenous groups in British Columbia, Montana and Idaho lobbied for more than a decade for the federal governments in the U.S. and Canada to intervene and stop the flow of pollution.
Scientists from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency several years ago confirmed high levels of selenium in fish and eggs in Montana’s Kootenai River downstream of Lake Koocanusa, which straddles the U.S. Canada border. The chemical, released when coal …