Senior Project Advisor
Zander Albertson
Document Type
Project
Publication Date
Spring 2021
Keywords
Ecology, contamination, slag, Teck, Smelter, LeRoi, Northport, EPA, Upper Columbia, Canada
Abstract
The objectives of this project include discussing the historical context of the smelting that occurred in Washington and Canada over the past century and how political events shaped the geographies of the region(s). Another objective will be to assess the level of environmental impact to the Upper Columbia region and the potential health effects to organisms and humans from the pollution released from the smelters. We will also explore the interaction of different agencies and stakeholders and the political processes of environmental cleanup to which parties are held responsible. Explaining the different advocacy and conservation groups already involved in the issue and exploring the impacts to Native tribes are important too. This project aims to will reveal the complex political relations between different nations relating to environmental issues, explain how one point source could potentially impact a large spatial area and many people, demonstrate how policy, environmental risk, and human health are all connected, and encourage the audience to do their own research and look into how environmental issues could directly affect them. Lastly, hope to address how we need both smelters and a clean environment to exist simultaneously and that to move forward, comprises and partnering steps have to be taken in order to establish a relationship between industries and the environment.
Department
Environmental Sciences
Recommended Citation
Murphy, Brenden, "Contamination in the Upper Columbia: Smelting and Its Impact to the Environment and Human Health" (2021). WWU Honors College Senior Projects. 478.
https://cedar.wwu.edu/wwu_honors/478
Subjects - Topical (LCSH)
Smelting--Health aspects--Northwest, Pacific; Smelting--Environmental aspects--Northwest, Pacific; Soil remediation--Northwest, Pacific
Geographic Coverage
Columbia River Watershed
Genre/Form
environmental impact statements
Type
Text
Rights
Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.
Language
English
Format
application/pdf