Why Are Hundreds Of Thousands Of Salmon Dying In The Northwest?

Each year, around July 1, thousands of sockeye salmon pass the Columbia River’s Bonneville Dam on their way to their spawning grounds in northern Washington and Canada. Centuries ago, sockeye salmon runs could be as large as three million fish. Last year — in the largest run since the construction of the Bonneville Dam in 1938 — 645,100 sockeye made the trip from the Pacific through the Columbia River.

Columbia River Chemical Spill Came From Smelter, Teck Resources Confirms

TRAIL, B.C. - Teck Resources (TSX:TCK.B) is confirming that its smelter in Trail has spilled up to 25,000 litres of a chemical solution into the Columbia River.

Spokesman Richard Deane says the solution likely contained sodium hydroxide which the plant uses to de-mineralize feed water for the smelter's boilers.

Teck Liable For Columbia River Clean-Up In Washington State: Judge

TRAIL, B.C. - Teck Resources treated the Columbia River as a free waste disposal system for decades, said a Washington state judge who has ruled the Canadian company is liable for the cost of cleaning up the contamination of the river south of the border.

In a decision announced late Friday, Judge Lonny Suko ruled that, "for decades Teck's leadership knew its slag and effluent flowed from Trail downstream and are now found in Lake Roosevelt, but nonetheless Teck continued discharging wastes into the Columbia River."