Epa Takes Control Of Cleanup Agency, Idaho Working On Master Plan For Bunker Hill

The federal government is taking over cleanup at the Bunker Hill Superfund site, ousting Gulf USA Corp. because it has run out of money.

“They have represented to us that they don’t have the money to do the work they are supposed to do,” said Nick Ceto, a Bunker Hill project manager for the Environmental Protection Agency. “As a result, we’ll do the work.”

Gulf is expected to fight a move by EPA to take over the offices of Pintlar Corp., the company’s Kellogg subsidiary. For five years, Pintlar’s local employees have managed much of the lead removal at Bunker Hill, with EPA oversight.

EPA and the state of Idaho are working on a Superfund master plan for Bunker Hill. Idaho is expected to shell out $10 million over the next six or seven years as its 10 percent match of federal Superfund cleanup dollars.

Gov. Phil Batt included $2.26 million for Bunker Hill cleanup in his first budget proposal on Wednesday.

Although that funding request is now in the hands of the Legislature, lawmakers have little choice but to approve it. Superfund laws require any federal spending to be matched with state money.

Although EPA cited Gulf’s inability to pay for cleanup work as its reason for assuming control at Bunker Hill, the company has more than $12.5 million in its bank account. Nearly all of the money came from a recent settlement with insurance carriers.

Because Gulf and Pintlar are bankrupt, money from the insurance settlement reportedly is tied up in litigation. Gulf owes millions to its pensioners for medical benefits and millions more to corporate bondholders and for the environmental cleanup.

Silver Valley residents view Gulf’s pending departure with mixed emotions. They’re happy to see EPA aggressively pursue cleanup after a decade of environmental studies and legal maneuvering. However, Pintlar’s departure would remove all local control over cleanup, handing it over completely to federal bureaucrats.

“The people in that Pintlar office here are local folks,” said Todd Goodson, a Kellogg city councilman. “We are going to lose control over what’s going on.”