Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake - Pollution Litigation

Pollution Litigation

The lake is downstream from the Trail Smelter, and has been the subject of litigation over environmental concerns.

COMINCO's smelter deposited slag from its plant into the Columbia River, which then flowed into Lake Roosevelt. Environmental concerns were raised when these deposits were found to include mercury, lead and zinc. This discovery led the nearby indigenous group, the Colville Confederated Tribes, to take action against COMINCO and hold them responsible for degrading the water quality of the lake. The pollution raised health concerns for tribe members, who used the beaches and campsites along the river and ate fish from the river "for subsistence, cultural and spiritual reasons". The lawsuit, launched in 2004, was unique in that it demanded COMINCO comply with a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) order to provide funding for pollution studies of the Trail operation. In a media statement released in 2003, COMINCO agreed to invest $13-million for studies of the health and ecology of Lake Roosevelt, as well as fund the clean up required to rid the lake of metal contamination associated with the company's smelting practices; although the company's agreement to fund the studies was well intentioned, the Colville Confederated Tribes countered that COMINCO's offer was inadequate because it "did not meet the quality of studies and cleanup guarantees that would be required under EPA rules". The case is ongoing.

The lawsuit between COMINCO and the Colville Confederated Tribes sparked more tensions between Canada and the U.S. over transborder environmental laws. As a Canadian company, COMINCO felt that their operation was being unfairly targeted because the lawsuit was ordering them to follow an American governing body's orders to clean up Lake Roosevelt. COMINCO also objected to the implication in the lawsuit that it was the only company responsible for the pollution of Lake Roosevelt.

In 1994, COMINCO stopped depositing smelting byproducts into the Columbia River and in 2004 reportedly spent about $1-billion modernizing the Trail plant and reducing its emissions.