(The Center Square) – A federal appeals court revived a decades-old lawsuit against a mining outfit on Wednesday, as Washington state and one group seek damages to aid taxpayer-funded cleanup efforts.
The Ninth Circuit reversed a lower ruling and remanded the case back to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington. The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation sued Teck Cominco Metals in 2004, receiving millions of dollars, with this decision launching the third phase of the lawsuit.
The district court found Teck liable in the first phase for dumping contaminants in the Upper Columbia River for decades, while the second resulted in damages paid for investigative costs and attorney fees.
However, the court rejected claims that Teck’s actions resulted in a loss of use of natural resources. It found that the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, or CERCLA, provides damages for the loss of natural resources, but not for cultural services like fishing, until now.
“Colville Tribes is very pleased that our right to sue for our people’s lost use of the polluted Columbia River, including our cultural uses, was affirmed by the Ninth Circuit,” Chairman Jarred-Michael Erickson told The Center Square. “We will continue our fight to ensure that polluters pay for the damage.”
Stakeholder Relations Director Dale Steeves told The Center Square that Teck is reviewing the ruling.
According to a news release, Colville Tribes expects the case to go to trial sometime in 2026, but the group doesn’t know when. Federal law requires the state and tribes to spend any damages recovered on initiatives to “restore, replace, or acquire the equivalent of such natural resources by the State.”
Congress created a “superfund,” filled with federal tax dollars in 1980 along with CERCLA to support various cleanup efforts around the country. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency put the Upper Columbia River on that list in 2024, unlocking millions of dollars to support ongoing restoration work.
Taxpayers have largely footed that bill along with the damages the mining company has paid in the past.
Steeves said Teck has invested over $200 million in the EPA’s study of the river over the last 20 years.
If the district court finds Teck liable in this phase, it would add to that total, saving taxpayers’ dollars.
“That work has included a human health risk assessment, finalized by the EPA in 2021, which indicated that fish in the Upper Columbia are safe to eat subject to mild state-wide and local advisories, and that the water and beaches are safe for recreational use,” Steeves told The Center Square on behalf of Teck.
Court records show Teck dumped nearly 10 million tons of toxic slag into the river from 1930 to 1995.
According to the EPA website, the agency prioritizes residential properties that have the most risk, and has already cleaned 77 properties and one tribal allotment with help from the state and mining outfit.
“It is clear beyond doubt that Congress aimed at providing full recovery of any damages to those persons harmed by the loss of natural resources,” according to the Ninth Circuit ruling. “To do that, damages occasioned by lost human activities must be considered.”
