Alaska seafood processor OBI’s recent letter to the state’s congressional delegation and governor is spot on about the importance of the Taku relative to wild salmon as well as the need for Alaska to keep pressure on British Columbia to get the long abandoned and polluting Tulsequah Chief mine closed and cleaned up. The notorious northwest BC mine is almost upon the Alaska border and its acidic and heavy metals laden waste water flows downstream into U.S. waters.
Based in Petersburg, OBI appreciates the importance of Taku salmon for all of southeast Alaska. It recognizes too that cross-border pressure from Alaska to BC has been crucial in getting the province to finally act on this issue. Progress toward the promised remediation is slow moving, far more talk and planning than action, and OBI’s words echo those of many Alaskans urging BC to get on it!