Epa Seeks Cleanup Feedback Citizens Group To Act As Information Clearinghouse

The Environmental Protection Agency will rely heavily on a long-standing citizens group for feedback on its plans to clean up mining contamination in the Coeur d’Alene River Basin.

The seven-year-old Citizens Advisory Committee will serve as a sounding board and information clearinghouse, said Dick Martindale of the EPA.

Martindale is the federal agency’s new community liaison. He spoke Wednesday to members of the Coeur d’Alene Basin Commission, a group appointed by Idaho’s governor to guide and watch over cleanup efforts.

Members of the commission, as well as the citizen’s committee, suggested that the committee represent residents of the basin. Both state and federal officials found that preferable to forming a new group.

“There’s enough groups out there now,” Martindale said, adding that he envisions the committee expanding to represent basin residents from Mullan - a mountain town in the headwaters of the Coeur d’Alene River - to Spokane, which is the recipient of heavy metals contamination via Lake Coeur d’Alene and the Spokane River.

Among those who showed an immediate interest in the citizens’ committee was Kate McCaslin, a Spokane County commissioner. She said her county wants a voting position on the Citizens Advisory Committee.

The committee grew out of the now-defunct Coeur d’Alene Basin Restoration Project. It was created at the suggestion of the state, the EPA and the Coeur d’Alene tribe to provide a “reality check” on decisions made by scientists and regulators.

Members have primarily been people who live along the waterways. The president is Buddy Paul of the Lake Coeur d’Alene Property Owners Association.

Sherry Krulitz, a member of the basin commission and a Shoshone County commissioner, worried aloud about a federal takeover of the citizens’ group.

“If the EPA starts endorsing who will and will not sit on the (citizens’ committee), I challenge the integrity of the group,” she said.

George Brabb, who serves on both the citizens’ committee and the basin commission, tried to calm her fears.

“We’re pretty independent,” said Brabb, a member of the Kootenai Environmental Alliance.

Rancher Frank Frutchey, also a member of both groups, said: “We have a history of welcoming just about anybody who’s interested enough to show up.”

The citizens’ committee meets at 7 p.m. on the first Wednesday of each month at the Rose Lake community center. Martindale will be there March 3 to discuss the group’s new role.

In other business, the Coeur d’Alene Basin Commission:

Welcomed McCaslin, its newest member. Her presence represents a willingness to involve Washington residents in the basin cleanup, which has been driven by Idaho, federal and tribal interests.

Learned from member Marti Calabretta that construction of protective rock berms along the Coeur d’Alene River is nearly half done, but has been stalled by wet roads. A truck load limit means more rock can’t be hauled in for the experimental effort to halt erosion of metals-laden banks. The plan calls for placement of 750 feet of rock near both sides of the river in a stretch downstream of Cataldo.

Heard that state and federal scientists are working together to set limits on the amount of metals legally allowed in the Coeur d’Alene River and downstream. The EPA has wanted stricter standards and accused the state of foot-dragging. Now, Idaho’s governor and the region’s EPA chief have ordered them to work together.

The change came after two environmental groups threatened to sue because the process was stalled and, they believed, favored weaker state standards. The limits of allowed metals could effect Silver Valley mining operations. The draft rules are expected out soon for public comment.

This sidebar appeared with the story: MEETING The citizens committee meets at 7 p.m. on the first Wednesday of each month at the Rose Lake community center.