Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska is calling on Canadian officials to provide more information around a major cyanide spill at a Canadian gold mine last month in the Yukon territory.
Sullivan in a letter Monday called on Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman to ensure Canadian transboundary mines aren’t polluting downstream Alaskan communities.
“While we are demanding Canadian cooperation and clean-up of the recent spill at a gold mine in the Yukon Territory, we are not waiting on them,” Sullivan said in a statement. “Last week, we secured a commitment from the U.S. Geological Survey to conduct water testing in Alaska’s portion of the Yukon as a precautionary measure.”
The letter highlights a spill that occurred in late June at Victoria Gold’s Eagle mine, the Yukon’s largest and newest gold mine, after a landslide at the site’s leach pad ripped through a containment barrier.
