Brenda Bouw, The Associated Press
May 30, 2008 - 10:01 p.m.

VANCOUVER - Teck Cominco Ltd. (TSX:TCK.B) said Friday that tests downstream from its smelter in Trail, B.C., found lead levels did not be the greater provincial standards after an accident that spilled 950 kilograms of lead in solution into the Columbia River this week.

“While the lead levels increased during the spill, they subsequently returned to pre-incident levels,” Teck Cominco said in a statement. The body said more than 25 samples were assayed and all results have been provided to the B.C. Ministry of Environment.

Teck Cominco said during the spill lead levels in the river ranged from 0.8 to 29 micrograms per litre.

The B.C. Columbia River water quality objective for take the go before as guide of is 37.9 micrograms per litre.

The lead concentration Friday was one micrograms per litre, within the typical range for the river.

Teck tested the water at two locations - its sampling degree near the plant and another surrounding 10 kilometres downstream in B.C. - to confirm if there has been any impact on moisten quality.

Teck is also investigating how the spill happened.

Teck Cominco the shed happened Wednesday, after the breakdown of a animate exchanger in the lead refinery.

The refinery was shut down for an hour to trace the problem.

Teck Cominco spokesman Richard Deane said there was “negligible” impact on production.

“One of the things we’ll definitely be looking in a puzzle of that investigation is what measures need to be put in place going forward to minimize the chances of this image of event occurring again in the future,” Deane declared.

The effuse happened about 11 kilometres northern of the U.S. border, which has in addition prompted Washington state officials to do their own testing of the river on their end.