Upstream metals ignored

I am writing to express concerns regarding “State cleanup plan sees sparkling Spokane River,” by Becky Kramer, Feb. 13.

Missing from this plan to clean up the Spokane River is the heavy metal pollution of the Silver Valley. With tons of contamination from the Coeur d’Alene Basin being dumped at the toxic waste repository in the floodplain at the Old Mission at Cataldo by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, against the wishes of more than 2,000 affected citizens, it is a given that perpetual pollution will be running downhill for years to come. In addition to what is already deposited in the Coeur d’Alene and Spokane rivers.

The toxic mine waste will not stop at the Idaho-Washington border. Nor will it be cleaned up by allowing the toxic repository to continue to be built across from the Old Mission near Cataldo.

Don’t shortchange yourselves, downstream basin people, the pollution is serious. So is the stigma and adverse damages to real estate, tourism and children who will be exposed. Trust me, I know.

You can do your share to return the Spokane River to sparkling quality by signing the online petition at www.silvervalleyaction.com.

Jerry Miller

Cataldo, Idaho