U.S., Canada and Ktunaxa Nation ink deal to mitigate waterborne pollution
The International Joint Commission, a 115-year-old organization that’s charged with adjudicating issues involving waterways that span the U.S.-Canada border, will be taking a more active role in assessing and mitigating pollution in the Elk-Kootenai watershed.
The commission’s involvement, announced today, comes after years of requests by Indigenous and First Nations governments, which have expressed concern that a British Columbia-based coal-mining operation is polluting shared waterways and threatening aquatic ecosystems.
The agreement between the U.S., Canada and the Ktunaxa Nation Council to refer the issue to the International Joint Commission will allow the commission to serve as an independent third party that can steer those governments toward a framework for reducing pollution.
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