Teck Cominco Ltd. called on the U.S. and Canadian governments to come up with a diplomatic solution to ensure the Canadian mining giant isn’t forced to play by an “unfair” American law in an environmental lawsuit.

The company filed a legal motion last week to dismiss the lawsuit brought against it by a U.S. aboriginal band, the Colville Confederated Tribes. The band claims Teck Cominco is responsible for pollution that plagues a lake bordering on its land.

But Doug Horswill, vice-president of environment and corporate affairs for Teck Cominco, said the company has always been willing to take responsibility for cleaning up its own mess and the back-and-forth legal action is simply delaying those efforts.

“It’s totally frustrating that we’re ending up in this legal battle. Our company is not at all unfamiliar with co-operative approaches to deal with fast actions,” he said in a conference call with media and analysts.

“We go back into these sites and we deal with them. There are many, many cases of this.”

The Colville suit is believed to be the first brought by U.S. residents against a Canadian company under the American Superfund law, which aims to clean up industrial pollution.

The suit was filed last month in the United States and demands Teck Cominco comply with American environmental laws in cleaning up decades of pollution in the U.S. portion of the Columbia River.

The motion to dismiss was filed in U.S. District Court in Spokane, Wash.

The aboriginal lawsuit had asked that the Canadian firm be ordered to comply immediately with a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) order to pay for studies of pollution from its metals smelter in Trail, in southeastern B.C.

The band is especially concerned about the state of Lake Roosevelt, the reservoir created by the Grand Coulee Dam, which borders Colville lands.

But Teck Cominco, a major lead and zinc producer, said last week it was forced to file the motion to dismiss the suit because the aboriginal group has refused to discuss a co-operative resolution to the dispute.

Horswill said Teck Cominco had been in lengthy discussions to address its obligations.

The company offered a study program under the direction and standards of the U.S. Environmental Protection Act and one that would be enforceable under U.S. law.

But talks broke down when U.S. officials concluded Teck Cominco’s studies were inadequate and demanded the company submit to the Superfund law.

Horswill said that’s not fair.

Under the law, known as CERCLA, U.S. operations with valid permits can rely on those permits as a defence, but valid Canadian permits aren’t recognized, he said.

As well, U.S. firms can bring in other potentially responsible polluters, but Canadian firms can’t.

“So we’re denied the defence available to U.S. companies. Patently unfair,” Horswill said.

“We call on the governments of the U.S. and Canada to create an agreement, an arrangement, whatever, by which we can get on with addressing the concerns respecting Lake Roosevelt.

“We believe it’s co-operation, not confrontation, that should be the source and the key to finding that quick and expeditious and effective manner to address these concerns.”

The Canadian government has objected that the EPA is attempting to extend its authority into Canada.

The Canadian ambassador earlier this year asked the U.S. State Department to tell the EPA to rescind its order.

The Confederated Tribes lawsuit contends that, for nearly 90 years, Teck Cominco’s smelter in Trail, near the Canada-U.S. border, has dumped millions of tonnes of slag into the river and the pollution has washed into the United States.

The lawyer representing the band, Richard Du Bey, could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Colville Reservation is bordered on the east by the Columbia River.

The lawsuit says tribal members use beaches and campsites along the river, and eat fish from the river.

Teck Cominco operates the world’s largest integrated lead-zinc smelting and refining complex at Trail.

Teck Cominco has maintained the pollution originated from several sources and the company shouldn’t be saddled with all the costs.

In addition to paying for environmental studies, the Superfund law calls for fines of $27,500 US a day for every day since the EPA order was filed.