Here's a news item from the Associated Press:  COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (AP) — Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter has sent a letter criticizing the federal government's proposal for the next phase of cleanup in Idaho's Silver Valley region. Otter sent a letter Monday to the Environmental Protection Agency saying he cannot support the plan unless it ensures cleanup work will not impede existing or future mining in the region. In the letter, reported by the Coeur d'Alene Press, Otter also says the cleanup cannot last forever and urged the EPA to set reasonable and achievable goals. The EPA is taking public comments on its proposal to expand the cleanup of historic mining wastes in the upper Coeur d'Alene River basin. The EPA Director of Environmental Cleanup Dan Opalski says they will consider Otter's comments and others submitted in the process.