This news has serious implications for the American river with the 2nd highest flow in the country.
25,000 litre chemical spill into BC river
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.
Sodium hydroxide is in an industrial cleaning agent also known as lye or caustic soda and can cause severe skin burns and eye damage.
Deane could not say if a harmful amount of the chemical was drained into the river.
This smelter has a long history of using the Columbia River as the dumping ground for its heavy metal wastes.
B C based Teck Resources is facing a class-action lawsuit in the United States on allegations unrelated to this spill that its smelter in Trail has polluted the Columbia River.
This lead and zink smelter only about 7 miles north of the US border has long been a major source of pollution of the Columbia River, and has been the cause of dispute between the two nations, shunted into diplomatic stagnation. Canada has shown little concern about the effects of its past pollution that has flowed south of their border with the U.S.