Okanogan Highlands Alliance (OHA) has reached a settlement agreement with Crown Resources and Kinross Gold USA to resolve the Clean Water Act citizen suit brought by OHA in 2020 over alleged ongoing Clean Water Act discharge permit violations at and near the Buckhorn Mine.

With the agreement, the mining companies agreed to actions to improve water quality and promote permit compliance, including investigations of the sources, fate, and transport of pollutants at and near the mine site, as well as a process to incorporate that and other information into a corrective action plan for the mine site.

“OHA made a practical decision to enter into a settlement agreement that gets the companies working, at long last, toward actions that will increase protection of the environment,” said OHA board President, Hanna Kliegman.

The agreement ensures that Crown will meet regularly with OHA and that Crown will share data and information with OHA and work with OHA on drafting a corrective action plan for the Buckhorn Mine.

“This agreement gives OHA a seat at the table and allows us to continue our decades-long commitment to independent oversight and analysis,” stated Dr. Sarah Kliegman, OHA co-Executive Director. “With access to the information and data from investigations, OHA will be able to conduct analyses and help with the remediation process” continued Dr. Kliegman.

The Clean Water Act includes provisions for permittees to discharge pollutants, but only if they adhere to certain limits. In October 2022, Crown Resources acknowledged over 3,500 monthly violations of Crown’s CWA permit had occurred between February 2015 and July 2022. This corresponds to over 100,000 total days of violations across all monitoring periods.

The settlement agreement filed with the court today includes $3 million to support on-the-ground conservation projects that benefit water quality, land, or wildlife habitat in the upper Columbia Basin north of the confluence of the Okanogan and Columbia Rivers.

“While the payments only amount to a fraction of the maximum penalty amount allowed by the Clean Water Act, OHA is heartened that these funds will be put to good use in the area,” added Dr. Kliegman.

Settlements like this one are required to be submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency prior to being entered as a court order, which typically happens 45-55 days after the proposed agreement is filed with the court.

OHA is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating the public about watershed issues and threats to the environment. OHA filed its Clean Water Act citizen suit against Crown Resources, and a parent company, Kinross Gold USA in April 2020 because of alleged ongoing violations of Crown’s Clean Water Act discharge permit for the Buckhorn Mine, near Chesaw, WA. Washington State’s Attorney General filed a similar suit against the mining companies in May 2020. The suits were consolidated in June 2020, but Washington State is not a party to the settlement between OHA and the mining companies and their lawsuit is ongoing.

Kampmeier & Knutsen, PLLC, represented OHA in its Clean Water Act citizen suit against the mine. www.kampmeierknutsen.com.