Batt Promises Silver Valley Clean-Up Governor Expected To Sign Agreement With Epa

(From For the record, Saturday, April 8, 1995:) In 1981, there were 4,265 mining and smelter jobs in Shoshone County, according to the Idaho employment office. There are now about 450. The figures were reported incorrectly Wednesday.

Idaho’s Republican governor joked Tuesday that GOP votes are hard to come by in the Silver Valley.

But that’s not why he plans to sign an agreement aimed at cleaning up the polluted mining district, Phil Batt said.

“We’ve never done well politically there. I’d like to do better. But that’s not the driving concern … We have no desire to play politics whatsoever.”

He was speaking in Coeur d’Alene to a group of valley politicians, business owners and environmental officials. Several of them acknowledged the governor’s bi-partisan interest.

Shoshone County Assessor Duane Little, a member of the Bunker Hill Superfund task force, thanked Batt for retaining Chuck Moss. Moss worked on Silver Valley cleanup issues for Batt’s Democratic predecessor.

Also still involved is former Democratic state Rep. Marti Calabretta. She coordinates the state’s effort to clean up toxic metals using money it received in a settlement with mining companies.

Calabretta organized Tuesday’s meeting to bring Batt up to speed on the issue.

Within days, the governor is expected to sign an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The state will promise to pay 10 percent of the cost of cleaning up the 21-square-mile Bunker Hill Superfund site.

At the heart of the site is a defunct smelter complex at Kellogg. The bankruptcy of its owner, Gulf Resources, left the state partly responsible for the cleanup under federal law.

The state’s obligation is $11.5 million. Of that, $2.3 million is tax dollars from the general fund. The rest comes in the form of credits for Idaho’s related environmental work.

Batt praised as “invaluable” the amount of volunteer time that has gone into planning for the cleanup. He plans to return to North Idaho on April 19 for a visit to the Bunker Hill site, where smelter demolition is under way.

Batt questioned the group repeatedly about economic issues. Having heard from Silver Valley workers that they weren’t being given a fair shot at Superfund cleanup contracts, he asked about efforts to change that.

After the meeting, Batt said he was pleased with efforts being made to give jobs to locals. But he said his biggest concern remains Shoshone County’s unemployment rate, the state’s highest.

One goal of Superfund is to clean up the Bunker Hill area so that new industry can use it. Mining-related jobs have dropped from 2,200 to 500 in the last 14 years.

Earlier Tuesday, Batt assured Coeur d’Alene Area Chamber of Commerce members that he would continue to support resource industries.

He noted his continuing fight at the federal and state levels for the release of about 2 billion board feet of scorched timber for harvesting. The governor also renewed his call for reform of the Endangered Species Act.

ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Julie Titone Staff writer Eric Torbenson contributed to this report.