For many years, tribes in southeast Alaska have been concerned about nearby mining projects across the Canadian border in British Columbia. The headwaters of three major rivers – the Taku near Juneau, the Stikine near Wrangell and the Unuk near Ketchikan – are in British Columbia but drain into southeastern watersheds.

Louie Wagner lives in Metlakatla near the mouth of the Unuk River. He is concerned about the Eskay Creek Mine, a large gold and silver mine on a tributary of the Unuk.

“Two mines are already operating and the third could be the second to third largest mine in the world,” Wagner said. “And where they’re going to build their retaining wall for their mining tailings dumps is pretty scary.”

The Eskay Creek Mine was an underground mine that produced gold from 1994 to 2008. The mine’s new owner, Skeena Resources, wants to restart open pit mining and estimates it will produce 2.8 million ounces of gold and 80 million ounces of silver over a twelve-year period. The company plans to build a tailings pond to store millions of tons of mine waste forever.

Subsistence users like Wagner believe the Unuk River ecosystem is too vulnerable.

“In the spring and summer, the water is so shallow that it can’t handle the pollution,” he said. “Damn, we’re losing all our wildlife. It’s going to be lost forever.”

Wagner is a member of the Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission (SEITC), which represents 17 indigenous tribes in the southeast and is fighting the development of the mine and others like it. This month, the commission called for a halt to mining operations, fearing that the mine’s waste could contaminate the river. Its fears date back to past events. Ten years ago, a tailings pond at British Columbia’s Mount Polley Mine burst, sending millions of gallons of mine waste into a nearby river that supports the salmon run in southeast Alaska. The British Columbia government declined to impose sanctions on the mining company over the spill.

According to the commission, the British Columbia government has not listened to their concerns. The commission is working with lawyers from the environmental non-profit organization Earthjustice. Mae Manupipatpong is one of the lawyers.

“The crux of this case is to ensure that the tribes that are members of the SEITC and potentially affected by this project have a say in the process and are not marginalized simply because they are on the other side of an arbitrarily drawn border,” Manupipatpong said.

David Karn of British Columbia’s Ministry of Environment declined to comment in an email, writing that it would be “inappropriate for the government to comment further at this time” because the process is still ongoing.

Earthjustice is seeking help from a human rights organization based in Washington DC. They have submitted a 47-page petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights asking for a halt to the Eskay mine. The petition describes the mine’s impacts as “grave” and “a foreseeable, imminent and significant threat.”

Manupipatpong said British Columbia law requires the informed consent of neighboring Alaska tribes because their ancestors had used the Unuk watershed in the past.

“We hope the commission can put pressure on BC and Canada to do the right thing,” she said. “Obviously, as an international body, they can’t force them to do it, but we’re trying to use this mechanism as another way to get BC to listen.”

The legality of the cross-border mines has long been disputed. Six years ago, the tribal commission filed a 215-page petition with the Human Rights Commission asking the group to investigate cross-border mines. Then, two years later, they filed another petition focusing on six mines near the Taku and Unuk rivers. The Human Rights Commission agreed to investigate the matter and last year found that the cross-border mines could violate the rights of tribes in the southeast. This February, the tribes filed another petition with the commission, demanding a formal hearing. Now, tribes in the southeast want the Eskay Creek mine stopped.

The state of Alaska has put the issue on the back burner. During former Governor Bill Walker’s administration, Lieutenant Governor Byron Mallot was tasked with seeking better communication with BC. In 2015, Alaska and BC signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen the state’s role in cross-border mining decisions. However, those discussions have not continued – at least not publicly.

A few years ago, the tribes conducted a study that documented their traditional use of the watershed. It was funded by the international conservation organization Re:wild. Since then, Re:wild has supported the tribes’ efforts. Re:wild operates in over 80 countries and its founder is the well-known actor Leonardo DiCaprio. Nina Hadley is also a member of the organization.

“We are particularly interested in protecting the transboundary region between Alaska and British Columbia because it is one of the largest ecological hotspots in North America,” Hadley said.

Re:wild thanks the region’s indigenous peoples for preserving biodiversity for thousands of years. Hadley said that’s why they support “intensive consultations” between Canada and the downstream tribes.

“By that I mean a formal dialogue between the tribes and the government of British Columbia aimed at building trust, respect and strengthening that shared responsibility. That kind of consultation is simply not happening.”

Time is short – Skeena Resources completed a feasibility study last year and is now awaiting the government’s environmental impact assessment. BC already has an agreement with the Tahltan Central Government of Canada, which owns the area near the mine.