Recent developments related to water resources along the U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico contrast the application of U.S. law to address international environmental concerns with the use of diplomacy, attorneys at the 31st annual American Bar Association Water Law Conference said June 7. Paul Dayton, of Short Cressman & Burgess, explored the extraterritorial application of U.S. law to a cross-boundary polluter, in this case a Canadian smelter that discharged a slag that settled as zinc, lead, cadmium, and other heavy metals into the Columbia River in the United States. A federal district court found Teck Metals Ltd. liable for cleanup costs linked to illegal discharges of slag and effluent into the Upper Columbia River for more than 60 years (Pakootas v. Teck Com-inco Metals, E.D. Wash., No. 04-CV-256, 12/14/12). Generally, applying U.S. law outside U.S. borders requires the consent of the country in which it would be imposed.
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