Workers Cleaning Up Superfund Work A Boon To Silver Valley Economy

From a distance, they look like a fleet of yellow Tonka toys.

But the big earthmovers and trucks are going about the serious work of scraping and hauling a century’s worth of mining wastes out of the flood plain.

The operators inside them are carrying off hefty paychecks, too.

“These guys start out at $22.50 an hour. The best-paying job you’re going to get around here is $20 or so,” said Rich McDonald of Pinehurst.

McDonald is a machinery operator who’s been watching as his Silver Valley neighbors get jobs cleaning up the Bunker Hill Superfund site. Over the past few years, the work has included tearing down the lead and zinc smelters, which along with the mines once were Shoshone County’s biggest source of jobs.

Even though Shoshone County unemployment is still high at about 10 percent, the Bunker Hill cleanup is a definite economic bright spot. Almost all of the workers are local, as federal officials promised.

One of the most labor-intensive Superfund projects resumed this month. That is the removal of metals-contaminated mine tailings from the Smelterville flats east of Kellogg.

In order to get the work done by November, the work was expanded to two, 10-hour shifts, Monday through Thursday.

“When they doubled the work force, that created a big stir in the valley,” said Gary Beck, manager of the state Job Service office in Kellogg. “Everybody wanted to drive the big trucks.”

Not everyone wanted to join a union to get the jobs, though, and that’s a prerequisite. McDonald is among those who has hesitated. He said it would cost him $1,200 to pay dues and take a mandatory hazardous materials class.

Union workers are allowed to deduct the dues from their paychecks, so the money doesn’t all have to be paid up-front.

The Superfund project is spearheaded by the Environmental Protection Agency. EPA officials eased concerns in the economically depressed valley when they said locals would get preference in hiring.

Boise-based Morrison-Knudsen is the company that landed the big contract for the Smelterville flats cleanup.

With the number of workers reaching 160, “We’ve just about peaked out,” said M-K project manager Bill Ingersoll. “One hundred percent of those people are from the Silver Valley.”

M-K subcontracted with Morrison Construction of Richland, Wash. Because Morrison has union contracts, the hiring is done through three Spokane union chapters.

The 20 big trucks are driven by members of Teamsters Local 690.

Sixty-seven Teamsters had been hired late last week. Most of the referrals are word-of-mouth, said business manager Dennis Dumaw. It seems everyone in the valley has a relative or friend who needs a job.

“They’re a good bunch of people,” said Dumaw.

Operating Engineers Local 370 finds workers to run the other heavy machinery, such as excavators and rollers.

Bucky Arnold, who started work last week, was self-employed before joining the 40 or so operators who found work with Morrison.

“They called four other people in front of me, but no one was home,” said Arnold, who’s glad he was home to take the call. A lot of his co-workers used to labor in the woods.

“They’re pretty few and far between - good jobs where you don’t have to stay in camp 400 miles away,” said Arnold. “Logging’s a tough job.”

Dennis Morris has operated heavy equipment for 10 years, and said he’s been pretty fortunate to find union work. This is the second year on the Superfund job; he was laid off from this project during the winter.

Laborers Union Local 238 provides the balance of workers, who do everything from flagging to dust control.

Only half a dozen Silver Valley residents belonged to the union at the start of the project, said Local 238 field representative Bill Carter.

“They were the first ones to be hired,” he said.

Along with the union dues come medical insurance and pensions, noted Carter. And when the job is done, “those with union cards can go anywhere in the United States and work.”

Not all jobs at the Superfund site require union membership. Other work contracted by the government includes road maintenance, yard cleanup, site security and erosion control.

All construction jobs are dangerous, notes M-K safety officer Ken Worley. This one is a little more so. Working around lead, zinc and other heavy metals poses a health risk. Workers shower after every shift, wear protective clothing, get full annual physicals.

Their blood is checked for the presence of metals every two months for the first half year, and every six months after that, Worley said.

John Waldo is a former logger whose dad worked for Bunker Hill. He’s been working at the Superfund site for several years. He helped tear down the smelter, and now is driving truckload after truckload of tailings.

The Superfund project, which will soon be winding down, has gone better than Waldo expected.

“I think it’s a plus for the valley,” he said.