Grant to clean up area for more trails

Hiking, biking, rollerblading, walking and running. You see it all in Sandpoint.

The city and other small towns which border Lake Pend Oreille are filled with residents who seek every opportunity to get outdoors and enjoy the beautiful setting they call home. And very soon they will have more options to choose from when heading outdoors.

Through a cooperative effort by the cities of Sandpoint, Ponderay and Kootenai as well as Bonner County and the Department of Environmental Quality, a $650,000 Federal Brownfields Assessment grant was awarded to help clean up and develop an area along the northwest shore of Lake Pend Oreille.

Brownfields are real property which, due to the presence of or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant, make the redevelopment of that property more complicated. Grants are awarded to help clean up and reinvest in these properties thereby protecting the environment.

A Brownfields Assessment grant is used to inventory, characterize and assess contaminated sites, to plan for cleanup and redevelopment, and to involve the community in that process.

The grant received by these communities will be used to plan a new trail – The Pend d’Oreille Bay Trail – which will run along the lakeshore side of Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Railway’s tracks connecting the cities of Sandpoint, Ponderay and Kootenai.

According to the information provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the coalition’s efforts will focus on a 2-mile stretch of the Lake Pend Oreille shoreline. Contamination exists in this area due to the rapid expansion of natural resource extraction industries beginning in the late 1800s.

Also cited as a cause of contamination are activities which included smelting and refining, lumber mill operations, and illegal dumping. Assessment of brownfields is expected to provide information about contamination and help expedite redevelopment along the shoreline corridor.

On Saturday, landscape architects from Idaho and Montana will come together to assist the communities in designing the trail which will run along the northwest shore of Lake Pend Oreille.

The event, the Pend d’Oreille Bay Trail Charrette, will involve a day of architects working together to produce architectural renderings of the project. The idea is to then work from that particular plan in further design and planning discussions.

The design workshop will investigate options for the trail, including trailheads, linkages to existing trails and paths, education and interpretive opportunities, and trail location and design considerations.

“This is a great opportunity to roll up our sleeves with expert designers and explore how to maximize the possibilities of this trail corridor so that that it can be the pride and joy of residents throughout Bonner County,” said Erik Brubaker, Ponderay’s city planner.

At the end of the day there will be an open house at the Sandpoint Business and Events Center which will give the community an opportunity to review and provide feedback on the ideas and architectural renderings that result from the workshop.

“We’d like to encourage folks to attend to get engaged in this project and help us evaluate some of the possibilities,” said Steve Gill, DEQ Brownfields specialist.

For more information log on to www.pobtrail.org.