Associated Press

Environmental groups in the United States and Canada have submitted a new request to a North American Free Trade Agreement commission to investigate the Devils Lake outlet.

The Montreal-based Commission for Environmental Cooperation last month rejected the initial request, saying it did not meet the proper criteria. However, the commission, following normal procedure, gave the groups 30 days to submit another request.

The initial request was submitted in March by the Sierra Legal Defense Fund on behalf of Friends of the Earth groups in both countries and People to Save the Sheyenne, a group of North Dakota residents who oppose the outlet that drains Devils Lake floodwaters into the Sheyenne River and ultimately into Canada via the Red River.

The groups contended that the United States and Canada, by allowing the outlet to operate, were violating international law designed to protect shared lakes and rivers from pollution.

The Commission for Environmental Cooperation said the groups in their revised request assert that the two governments have failed to prevent cross-border pollution that they say results from the outlet.

The groups say the 1909 International Boundary Waters Treaty "creates an absolute prohibition of transboundary pollution," and that "it is up to the parties to the Treaty to enforce this mandatory provision."

The NAFTA commission said it will review the revised submission to determine if it meets the proper requirements.

Even if the commission were to conduct an investigation, the "citizen submission" process does not include the possibility of sanctions. Commission officials say it enables the public to "play a whistle-blower role" on matters of environmental law enforcement, and draw attention to an issue.