Upper Columbia River Lake Roosevelt Site

• Site Background
• Contamination
  • Metals in Soil
  • Upper Columbia River & Lake Roosevelt Recreation
• Investigations
  • Remedial Investigation & Feasibility Study
  • Natural Resources Damage Assessment
  • Contributions from Ecology's Toxics Cleanup Program
    • Field Reconnaissance and Sediment Sampling Report
    • Background Characterization for Metals and Organic Compounds in Northeast Washington Lakes
    • Metals Concentrations in Sediments of Lakes and Wetlands in the Upper Columbia River Watershed
    • Upper Columbia River Upland Soil Sampling Study
    • Evaluation and Interpretation of the Sediment Chemistry and Sediment Toxicity Data for the Upper Columbia River
    • Laboratory Toxicity and Benthic Invertebrate Field Colonization of UCR Sediments
    • Preliminary Review and Evaluation of Available Air Quality Monitoring Data and Consideration of Potential Present-Day Health Risks
    • Upland Regional Soil Background Characterization for Select Metals in Northeast Washington Watersheds
• Litigation

The upper Columbia River/Lake Roosevelt site extends over 150 miles from the U.S.-Canadian border near Northport to the Grand Coulee Dam. The site lies within parts of Lincoln, Ferry, and Stevens counties.

Smokestack emissions, slag, and liquid waste from metal smelting released directly into the Columbia River contaminated the river and broad upland areas near the border. Slag is an angular, glassy, industrial waste containing hazardous substances including zinc, lead, copper, and other metals.

The Teck Trail smelter, less than 10 miles across the border in Trail, British Columbia (B.C.), on the banks of the Columbia River, is the main contaminant source. Since 1896, Teck Metals Ltd. and its predecessors (Cominco and others) have continuously operated the smelter in Trail. Smaller contributions near Northport also came from the long-closed Le Roi smelter.

In December 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) added the site to the Superfund National Priorities List (read the news release). The list includes sites throughout the United States and its territories where historic releases of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants pose significant threats to people and the environment.

EPA added it to the list because soil is contaminated with lead and arsenic, which poses an unacceptable risk to residents at affected properties, particularly to children and women of childbearing age. Sediments in the river are also contaminated with metals, including zinc, copper, cadmium, selenium, lead, and mercury. These metals are a risk to fish, wildlife, birds, and other organisms who live in and along the river.

Metals in soil

Unnaturally high levels of metals, including lead and arsenic, are found in topsoil in the upper Columbia River Valley. When present, the levels of metals commonly found in the area can be a health concern. Health risks can be greatly reduced if managed properly.

• Contact Ecology, or visit our Dirt Alert website, for simple actions that can help you and your family avoid exposure to metals in soil.
• Download Dirt Alert: Soil Safety & Sampling Guidance for People Concerned about Arsenic & Lead.
• Learn about information disclosure requirements for buying or selling real estate.
• Search our smelter plume map to see if your property is within the potentially affected area.

• Learn more on EPA's Upper Columbia River Remedial Investigation & Feasibility Study website.
• Contact Cass Galasso (509-713-8488), EPA project manager, to see if your property has been sampled in the past or if you have concerns about your property. 

Upper Columbia River & Lake Roosevelt recreation

EPA is leading several studies to assess human and ecological risks and to understand the extent of contamination in the river, reservoir, and upland areas. This included recreational beach areas, water quality, sediments, fish, benthic invertebrates, and other aquatic life.

Those studies show the beaches, except Bossburg Beach, and water are safe for recreation.

• Follow the Washington Department of Health’s fish advisory for the upper Columbia River and Lake Roosevelt to guide the frequency and amount of fish consumed to protect you and your family.
• Learn more and get involved by visiting the Lake Roosevelt Forum website.

Two main investigations focusing on the upper Columbia River site are ongoing. EPA is overseeing the Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study (RI/FS), and the UCR Trustee Council is leading the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA).

Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study

The purpose of the RI is to identify the contaminants, their locations, and human health and environmental risks. The FS will be developed later and offer cleanup options to address contaminants found during the RI.

In 2006, Teck American, Inc., entered into an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice and EPA to fund the RI/FS from the U.S.-Canadian border to Grand Coulee Dam. Teck does most the field investigation work with EPA oversight. EPA is responsible for assessing human health risk.

Ecological Risk Assessments

Teck and EPA are working on two ecological risk assessments. EPA completed the Upland Baseline Ecological Risk Assessment in 2023. Zinc, cadmium, and lead in upland areas above the river are the greatest and most widespread risk to plants and wildlife. Teck disputed the findings but wasn't successful.

The draft Aquatic Baseline Ecological Risk Assessment is under review. It evaluates risks to plants, wildlife, fish, and other organisms in and along the river from metals contamination in sediment and slag. As part of this study, Teck sampled surface water throughout the Upper Columbia River, including where irrigation water is drawn from the river, to assess levels of metals during different river conditions. All water samples were below standards considered safe for people and wildlife.

Human Health Risk Assessment

In February 2021, EPA published their Human Health Risk Assessment (HHRA). The HHRA evaluates risks to residents, recreationalists, and workers. EPA will use the assessment and other RI information to develop a cleanup plan proposal to address health risks.

The HHRA results show lead in soil is a risk for residents of the greater Northport area. Based on existing upland soil data, the river valley corridor from just upstream of China Bend to the international border has higher levels of lead in soil. This encompasses the area where past residential property cleanups have occurred and are planned in the near future. Public beaches and the river are safe for recreation, except for Bossburg Beach.

Residential soil sampling and cleanups

EPA is planning soil cleanups at up to 100 residential properties in and around Northport between spring 2026 and fall 2027. In May 2025, they sampled soil at 87 residential properties. Of those, 45 (52%) properties had arsenic or lead at levels above cleanup standards. 

Residential property owners with lead or arsenic in soil above screening levels are invited to volunteer for free cleanup by emailing Cass Galasso or calling 509-713-8488. This includes any properties sampled during previous residential soil sampling events. The current screening levels are 200 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) for lead and 18 mg/kg for arsenic.

EPA completed residential soil cleanups of lead and arsenic on 29 properties in Northport and 28 areas across rural, residential properties in the greater Northport area in 2004, 2014, 2016, and 2018. They removed and replaced contaminated soil at 16 more properties in Northport in 2020, another 15 in 2022, and then 9 more in 2024. Ecology paid for disposal of the contaminated soil at the Stevens County Landfill for the yard cleanups in 2022 and 2024.

• Visit EPA’s Upper Columbia River Site Study website, Teck’s Upper Columbia River Project website, and the Lake Roosevelt Forum website for more information. 

Natural Resources Damage Assessment

Washington State (represented by Ecology), Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, U.S. Department of the Interior, and Spokane Tribe of Indians, collectively referred to as the Upper Columbia River Trustee Council (the Trustees), are conducting the NRDA.

The purpose is to determine past and ongoing natural resource injuries with the goal of restoring or replacing the injured resources for the public. Compensation from the parties responsible for the contamination would be used to create a restoration fund.

• Preassessment Screen for the Upper Columbia River Site, Washington (2009)
• Injury Assessment Plan for the Upper Columbia River Site, Washington (2012)
• Learn more about Ecology's NRDA projects.

Our contributions

Ecology has completed independent studies evaluating smelter contamination in northeastern Washington that have guided or informed EPA and NRDA studies.

In 2019, Ecology worked with Washington State University to find the highest levels of metals naturally occurring in soil within 11 state-defined watersheds for 18 metals and metalloids. The geographic boundaries were selected to guide and inform cleanup decisions and other environmental work occurring in the upper Columbia River region.

• Upland Regional Soil Background Characterization for Select Metals in Northeast Washington Watersheds | Appendix E: Analysis and Estimation of Background Metals Concentrations in Soils and Sediments of the Upper Columbia River Basin (2019)

Overall, the Ecology studies confirmed elevated metals in topsoil and sediments in parts of the upper Columbia River Valley and nearby lakes and wetlands. The studies also traced most of these metals to past smelter emissions from the Teck Trail smelter.

In 1999, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation (CCT) petitioned the EPA to assess upper Columbia River contamination. In 2003, EPA issued Teck a Unilateral Administrative Order requiring Teck to investigate the site and produce a plan to identify ways to investigate the contamination caused by the Trail smelter. Teck did not comply.

In 2004, the original Plaintiffs in this suit, Joseph Pakootas and Donald R. Michel (collectively Pakootas), filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington under the citizens’ suit provision of the federal Comprehensive Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA). CERCLA (often called Superfund) makes certain parties liable for costs and damages associated with releases of hazardous substances. The complaint asked the district court for declaratory and injunctive relief, including enforcing EPA's order against Teck. Washington State quickly filed a Complaint in Intervention, which was granted. The state and CCT complaints have been amended during the litigation to include NRDA, cost recovery, and air pathway liability.

• Liability
• Response costs
• NRDA 

The plaintiff parties (Washington and CCT) moved forward on Teck’s CERCLA liability under the framework the Court defined in Pakootas I (that Teck could be held liable under CERCLA for releases of Teck contaminants in the upper Columbia River valley). The district court ultimately held that Teck was liable as a CERCLA “arranger” on December 14, 2012. Extraterritorial arguments, based on the fact that the Trail smelter is outside the U.S., have continued to be rejected by the courts. 

Securing Teck’s U.S. legal liability for legacy pollution caused by air emissions pollution stalled in 2016 due to a 9th Circuit decision. The decision was based on a highly nuanced legal interpretation (not a science-based determination) of the definition of "disposal" in CERCLA, which is also referenced in another federal waste environmental law (the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act or RCRA). 

State and CCT reimbursement of response costs have been awarded or conditionally settled, and in September 2018, the Ninth Circuit Court denied Teck’s appeal, upholding the previous decision making the company responsible for UCR cleanup costs.

The NRDA claim phase began in 2022.

For over 20 years now, Teck has continued to fight liability and related obligations at all levels for the century’s worth of industrial wastes the Trail smelter historically discharged directly to the Columbia River or from smoke stacks. The litigation and multiple appeals continue in federal court.

Learn more about litigation

Ecology and Washington Office of the Attorney General staff are available to assist with your questions or information requests. 

Based on past requests and interest, we made some of the expert reports from the liability litigations available. You may download a report by clicking its title below.

• Queneau, P.B. 2010. Expert Opinion - Pakootas et al. v. Teck Cominco Metals.
• Bierman, V.J. 2010. Expert Report - Waste Transport in Columbia River - Pakootas et al. v. Teck Cominco Metals.
• McLean, D.G. 2010. Opinion on the Transport of Metallurgical Slag by the Columbia River, Trail B.C. to International Border. Northwest Hydraulic Consultants.
• Vlassopoulos, D. 2010. Expert Report of Dimitrios Vlassopoulos. Pakootas et al. v. Teck Cominco Metals Ltd. | Appendices A, B, C1, C2, D1, D2, E, F
• Quivik, F.L. 2010. History of Mining, Milling, and Smelting in NE Washington. Pakootas et al. v. Teck Cominco Metals, Ltd.
• Queneau, P.B. 2011. Expert Opinion – Rebuttal of Higginson. Pakootas et al. v. Teck Cominco Metals.
• McLean, D.G. 2011. Opinion on the Transport and Fate of Metallurgical Slag Discharged into the Columbia River. Northwest Hydraulic Consultants.
• Stevens, Jennifer. 2011. Expert history report. A Rebuttal Report to: Fredric Quivik, Terence McNulty, Adrian Brown, and Rex Bull.
• Vlassopoulos, D. 2011. Rebuttal Report. Pakootas et al. v. Teck Cominco Metals, Ltd.
• Queneau, P.B. 2014. Expert Opinion of Paul B. Queneau. Pakootas, et al. v. Teck Cominco Metals Ltd.
• Vlassopoulos, D. 2014. Expert Report of Dimitrios Vlassopoulos. Pakootas et al. v. Teck Cominco Metals Ltd.