Red Dog mine found in violation of Clean Water Act
Associated Press
A federal judge found that the Red Dog Mine violated the Clean Water Act more than 600 times. U.S. District Court Judge John Sedwick in Anchorage denied several hundred other alleged pollution claims against the mine, located near Kotzebue. The lawsuit was filed by Kivalina residents.
The six plaintiffs argued that mine operator Teck Cominco discharged illegal amounts of pollution into a river they use for drinking water and subsistence fishing.
Kivalina is 66 miles downstream from Red Dog. Red Dog is the world's largest lead and zinc mine. Sedwick, however, denied the plaintiffs' other claims, saying they failed to prove the rest of the nearly 2,000 alleged violations of the Clean Water Act.
Both sides claimed victory in the ruling issued Friday. Red Dog is owned by NANA Regional Corp., the regional Native corporation for the Northwest Arctic.All contents Copyright 2006 Alaska Broadcasting Company, Inc.
