Mission Flats is wrong site

The recent EPA inspector general’s report on the repository ( www.epa.gov/oig) found that EPA’s analysis of the site is inaccurate and incomplete and that groundwater contamination is likely.

The current design contains no liner, and the cap does not extend down the sides of the repository. In addition, the underlying water’s low oxygen content increases its ability to dissolve heavy metals.

The water beneath the site is currently clean. However, at a nearby site the contaminated soil layer is much deeper due to dredging, and groundwater is contaminated with zinc.

My wellhead lies within a quarter-mile of the repository, so I consider contaminated groundwater a critical issue.

EPA and IDEQ plan to begin dumping contaminated waste in July and are constructing a bridge from I-90 to the repository.

I’m asking local citizens to contact Congressman Walt Minnick’s office requesting a full moratorium. You can speak to the congressman’s staff person, Devin Nagy, at (202) 225-6611 or e-mail him at Devin.Nagy@mail. house.gov. You can also e-mail EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson at Jackson.Lisa@epamail.epa.gov. Siting a repository in a floodplain may be convenient but is not the least bit wise.

Susan Mitchell

Cataldo, Idaho