Latest from The Spokesman-Review

• Silver Valley lead levels dropped dramatically

  May 17, 2012 in Idaho on Page A12 Much has changed in Idaho’s Silver Valley since the 1970s, when children living near the Bunker Hill Smelter complex averaged 65 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood. The rates …

• 2 dead in weekend shooting in Pinehurst

  February 22, 2012 in Idaho PINEHURST, Idaho — The Idaho State Police are investigating an apparent murder-suicide in northern Idaho that left a man and his son dead.

• Curtailed Silver Valley cleanup is ‘interim’ EPA plan

  February 16, 2012 in Idaho on Page A1 Three decades from now, Silver Valley residents could still be living in a Superfund site, under the federal government’s scaled-back cleanup plans. After an outcry from Idaho’s elected officials and …

• Idaho’s Silver Valley may have long-term Superfund label

  February 15, 2012 in City The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to scale back cleanup work in the Silver Valley comes with a catch: At the end of 30 years, the upper Coeur d’Alene River … 1

• Mine shutdown impact could exceed $25 million

  January 13, 2012 in News A year-long closure of the Lucky Friday Mine could reduce income in the Silver Valley by more than $25 million, state officials said. 5

• Illness, economy threaten popular Silver Valley eatery

  January 11, 2012 in City on Page A1 KINGSTON, Idaho – Joe Peak remembers the first time he walked into the Snakepit. “The bar was three deep with loggers and miners,” Peak said. 2

• Lead Creek Derby celebrating 70th run

  June 16, 2011 in City on Page A8 Hundreds of revelers are expected in the Silver Valley on Saturday to watch a giant beach ball float down the river, offering a chance at winning $1,000 in silver coins. …

• Hecla agrees to Superfund settlement

    June 13, 2011 The largest mining company in Idaho’s Silver Valley will pay $263.4 million plus interest to settle one of the nation’s largest Superfund lawsuits — one of the top 10 such … 5

• Mining firm pays $6.8 million for N. Idaho pollution

  February 15, 2011 in Idaho A big mining company whose activities polluted North Idaho’s Silver Valley must pay federal, state and tribal governments nearly $6.8 million in a settlement over natural resource damages. 9

• Zanetti Brothers agrees to share of basin cleanup

  January 6, 2011 in Idaho on Page A6 One of the Silver Valley’s oldest family-run companies has reached a $200,000 settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over Superfund cleanup of historic mine waste. Zanetti Brothers Inc. will …

• Meyer to oversee mine cleanup

  November 14, 2010 in City on Page B7 A $447 million trust established to pay for Superfund cleanup in the Coeur d’Alene River basin has hired its first full-time employee. Dan Meyer will start work Jan. 1. He …

• Wetland project a boon for birds along Coeur d’Alene River

  September 30, 2010 in Idaho on Page A5 Tundra swans that stop to feed in Mike Schlepp’s wetlands won’t end up with gullets full of lead. Since 2007, the federal government has worked to transform 400 acres of …

• Residents fear cleanup will hinder Silver Valley economy

  August 10, 2010 in City on Page A1 KELLOGG – Too far-reaching, too costly. Another knock for the Silver Valley. That was the consensus of public testimony Monday evening at a town hall meeting on the U.S. Environmental … 10

• Residents, officials knock Silver Valley mine cleanup plan

  August 9, 2010 Too far-reaching, too costly. Another knock for the Silver Valley. That was the consensus of public testimony Monday evening at a town hall meeting on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s … 1

• Forester’s commitment revived Bunker hill landscape

  July 6, 2010 in Idaho on Page A1 In the early 1970s, Kellogg’s bleak backdrop reminded Ed Pommerening of Vietnam. Bare hills rising from the historic mining town bore an eerie resemblance to the napalmed jungles the young … 1

• Lead screening still a dilemma in Silver Valley

  June 30, 2010 in Idaho on Page A6 Community leaders in Idaho’s Silver Valley are searching for ways to encourage more parents to have their children tested for lead exposure. Paying parents to have their kids screened might …

• Agencies seek more lead testing

  June 17, 2010 in City, Idaho A workshop on how to increase blood-lead testing of children and pregnant women in the Silver Valley is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on June 29 at Silver …

• Rail site cleanup slated for summer

  April 21, 2010 in Idaho on Page A6 Union Pacific and BNSF Railway have agreed to clean up historic mining waste at old rail sites in Idaho’s Silver Valley.

• Rural Idaho counties see population decline

  March 25, 2010 in Idaho on Page A5 The number of people moving out of rural Idaho increased between mid-2008 and mid-2009 as the recession reached into every corner of the state.

• Sterling Mining hit with $50,000 fine

  September 29, 2009 in Idaho Sterling Mining Co. has been fined $50,000 for violations of its federal pollution discharge permit at the Sunshine Mine and Mill complex in Idaho’s Silver Valley.

• Stimulus could fund Idaho cleanup

  March 3, 2009 in Idaho on Page A6 BOISE – Thanks to the federal economic stimulus bill, there could be 70 new seasonal jobs in North Idaho’s Silver Valley this summer and next as part of the Bunker …

• Plans call for fifth repository

  February 27, 2009 in Idaho on Page A7 Idaho’s Silver Valley will soon need a new hazardous-waste repository to accept soil excavated during ongoing Superfund work, a state official said this week. Multiple sites between Kellogg and Mullan …

• Need for new Silver Valley repository growing

  February 26, 2009 in Idaho Idaho’s Silver Valley will soon need a new hazardous-waste repository to accept soil excavated during ongoing Superfund work, a state official said this week.

• Colorful history surrounds Silver Valley

  June 9, 2008 in City on Page A6 Hercules. Galena. Lucky Friday. Star. Sierra. They sound like the names of racehorses, but in North Idaho’s Silver Valley everyone knows these are the mines that have shaped the area’s …

• Taking water to the mountaintop

  April 26, 2008 in City on Page B1 KELLOGG – The developers of Silver Mountain Resort say they want to transform Idaho’s Silver Valley from a “Superfund Site to a Super Fun Site.” But if you’re a local, …