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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Water system contract issued for Bunk Hill site

From staff reports

A Pennsylvania company was awarded a $48 million contract to expand a water treatment system at the Bunker Hill Superfund site near Kellogg.

AMEC Foster Wheeler Environmental & Infrastructure Inc. is expected to start the design work shortly. The four-year contract covers construction and the initial year of operations.

The Central Treatment Plant was initially developed to treat wastewater coming out of the Bunker Hill Mine. The upgrade will expand the plant to collect and treat contaminated groundwater in the area.

The treatment will reduce the amount of zinc and other heavy metals reaching the South Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River, said Sheryl Bilbrey, director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund office in Seattle. Zinc is particularly toxic to fish.

Money for the project is coming out of a prior settlement with Hecla Mining Co. over historic mining waste in the Silver Valley.