Quarterdeck Fall 2020:QDeck
10/19/20
10:58 AM
Page 12
Morning calm on the Columbia near Chelan Falls in central Washington/
Naturally free flowing sec ons were always a welcomed sight a er many days of paddling across the s ll reservoirs, with full exposure to sun and wind. Some were short, only a few miles before I was again paddling in slackwater, backed up behind the next dam. The sec on between Keenleyside and the northern part of Roosevelt was a longer stretch of moving water and it felt like a gi to see the true nature of the river, to see the size and power of the flow. Moving current carried me past the Teck refinery complex in Trail, BC. This zinc and lead smelter has been in opera on since 1896 and the EPA es mates that Teck released 400 tons of slag into the Columbia every day — at least 23 million tons between 1896 and 1995 — before the company agreed to install an interim slag collec on system. Last year the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reserva on finally won a 20-year legal ba le with Teck and were awarded $8.5 million. 12
Naturally free flowing sec ons were always a welcomed sight a er many days of paddling across the s ll reservoirs, with full exposure to sun and wind.