Toxic Waste Near Fernan Lake Removed Illegally Dumped Toxins Will Cost More Than $3,000 To Clean Up

Hazardous waste crews removed nine barrels full of toxic chemicals from the Panhandle National Forest on Thursday.

U.S. Forest Service officials believe the barrels were dumped illegally amid the towering pine trees north of Fernan Lake because someone didn’t want to go to the effort and expense of proper disposal.

Cleanup costs are well more than $3,000, said Jerry Moore, special agent for the U.S. Forest Service.

The blue and black barrels, some crusted with rust, were found along Fernan Lake Road, almost five miles east of the Fernan gun range.

“They look like they were just pushed down over the edge of the road,” Moore said.

The barrels may have been lying in the forest since last fall, said John Neirinckx, operation engineer with the Idaho Panhandle National Forests. An anonymous caller tipped Forest Service officials off to them in late January.

One barrel was leaking at the time.

Samples of the substances were sent to a state lab in Boise for tests. Solvents such as methylene chloride and trichloroethylene fill one barrel. Other barrels also contain cyanide, chromium, zinc and copper.

Neirinckx said the chemicals are the type used in metal plating operations or for removing gold and silver from ore.

On Thursday, a crew dressed in yellow safety suits and filter masks used a chain and winch to drag the barrels up from where they had been dumped.

The Forest Service contracted with Olympus Environmental Inc. of Spokane to remove the barrels and any contaminated dirt that surrounded them.

It will cost about $3,000 for that removal, Moore said. It then will cost another $400 to $900 a barrel to have the waste disposed of at a treatment, storage and disposal facility in Seattle.

“I think we were fortunate to find it when we did,” Neirinckx said.

“A leak like this, if gone undetected, could eventually reach Fernan Creek and Fernan Lake,” Moore said.

Soil samples were taken Thursday to see how far the leak might have spread.

“I think, based on what they found, that they felt there wasn’t much that leaked,” Moore said.

He said it is difficult to track where such hazardous waste comes from.

“I have an idea who it is, but I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to prove it,” Moore said, explaining he still is investigating the problem. “If I find out who dumped it, I will press charges.”