In 2005, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) initiated the Upper Columbia River Remedial Investigation & Feasibility Study (UCR RI/FS).
Since 2006, the RI/FS has been conducted and funded under a settlement agreement between EPA, Teck Metals Ltd. (a Canadian company), and its U.S. affiliate Teck American Inc. (TAI). Click here for EPA RI/FS updates.
The UCR site roughly extends from Grand Coulee Dam to the Canadian border (a 150-mile river reach that includes Lake Roosevelt) and includes about 77,000 acres of land east and west of the Columbia and south of the U.S.—Canada border called the “uplands.”
The purpose of the UCR RI/FS is to establish the nature, extent and possible human health and ecological risks of metals and other contaminants found in the Upper Columbia River. EPA identified a primary source of contaminants in sediments as historic discharges from Teck’s Trail Smelter that is located about ten river miles north of the U.S./Canada border.
From 1923 until operational changes in 1995, Canadian environmental permits supported the Trail Smelter discharging millions of tons of granulated fumed slag with trace metals into the Columbia River and air emissions that deposited lead in Upper Columbia Valley soils. The United States and Canada also allowed discharges into the river from other mining, milling and smelting operations as well as paper and pulp industrial operations.
In 2011, 2015, 2019 and 2020, the Forum released Public Guides summarizing the studies, investigations and results of the UCR RI/FS. The 2020 guide summarizes the Human Health Risk Assessment, including EPA conclusions that the Upper Columbia River is safe for swimming, fishing and other recreational activity. Click here for the full range of studies, reports, assessments and other documents related to the RI/FS.
In December 2024, EPA listed the Upper Columbia River (UCR) as a Superfund site on the National Priorities List (NPL). Click here for EPA news release. February 2024 and October 2023 Forum articles provide EPA’s rationale for proposing the listing, Washington State and tribal support, and counties opposed.
Click here for Forum RI/FS and NPL updates.
