JUNEAU — State tribal groups have met with federal officials to discuss concerns that Canadian mining projects could divert potentially toxic water to southeast Alaska watersheds.
The Juneau Empire reports that the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska met with officials from the Department of State and the Environmental Protection Agency last week in Juneau. They discussed ways to protect the region’s water quality and salmon habitat.
The tribe is concerned about what have been called transboundary mines proposed on the Stikine, Taku, Alsek and Unuk River watersheds.
Central Council president Robert Peterson says the tribe asked the EPA to help find funding for water quality studies.
He says he felt the representatives from both federal agencies were “very responsive.”
