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The letter, dated June 13, says the United States government has previously communicated its concerns to Canada’s foreign ministry, and is requesting water monitoring standards that are “equivalent to those on the U.S. side of the border.”

Last year, American officials on the International Joint Commission — a body that since 1909 has monitored transboundary waterways — said in a letter to the U.S. state department that Canadian members were blocking the release of a report that showed high levels of contaminants in the Kootenai River. An audit from April 2019, from federal environment commissioner Julie Gelfand, found that while Ottawa was appropriately monitoring environmental effects of mining, “there was no requirement on anybody’s part to actually have to do anything.”

“Nobody actually seems to have to deal with the issue.”

In an emailed response to the Post’s inquiries to the premier’s office, the British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources said it had multiple agreements with bordering states and takes “the protection and preservation of our environment very seriously.”

“We are committed to working closely with our transboundary neighbours to protect and enhance our shared environment and waterways,” the government said.

In a press release, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s office said this letter follows “multiple letters” from Alaska over the last five years “expressing concerns about B.C. mining practices and potential downstream effects on U.S. resources and livelihoods.” (Murkowski, the Republican chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, did not respond to a request for an interview.)