Questions about the Columbia River

Residents of Northport, Washington want answers to their questions. The town is less than a dozen miles from the large smelter complex in Trail, British Columbia and they want to know if the high number of people with auto-immune diseases is because of the heavy metals that come down the river from the smelter. Some of the photos in this slideshow are from 2003, and smelter operations have improved the water quality downstream. But residents say that beaches still turn black with slag.

Section:Video