Tribe, Washington Could Force Tighter Cda Cleanup Plans Stricter Policies Could Put Pressure On Idaho

News of Idaho’s bigger role shaping mining waste cleanup in the Coeur d’Alene River basin grabbed headlines this week.

But the Gem State isn’t the only hand in the Environmental Protection Agency’s plan to clean up toxic metals from Mullan to Lake Roosevelt.

Tribal and Washington state interests are also at the table - both holding potential legal hammers.

The Coeur d’Alene Tribe wants to craft water quality standards for its reservation - which now includes the southern third of Lake Coeur d’Alene.

A plume of metals-carrying sediment wends downriver from the Silver Valley to the Spokane River. Any metals flowing out of the Coeur d’Alene basin hit tribal waters near Harrison.

If the tribe gets clearance to draft its own clean water goals, it could eventually override weaker standards from other governments.

The Coeur d’Alenes could act as a sovereign water quality cop, regardless of what the feds and state decide to do.

“That puts them in a position where they don’t have to be looking to EPA,” said Rich McAllister, an EPA attorney in Seattle. “They have a certain ability to step forward.”

Tribal representatives were unavailable for comment Friday.

But earlier, tribal officials expressed immediate skepticism of the state’s commitment to cleanup.

Top EPA officials on Thursday announced they would let Idaho develop one of several options for cleanup, due out at the end of 2000. “We’re very concerned about politics rather than good sound scientific solutions,” Tribal Chairman Ernie Stensgar said Thursday.

EPA is reviewing the tribe’s application, which will also be reviewed by Gov. Dirk Kempthorne’s office.

The state and mining companies are pushing for less strict standards, however, partly to reflect natural background levels of metals.

The tribe will likely pursue the most strict federal water quality rules - so-called “Gold Book” standards.

State staffers acknowledged that tribal clean water authority could force a bigger cleanup than they seek.

“Obviously the water quality goal, the standard, is what drives the cleanup level,” said Gwen Fransen, the state’s top environmental official in North Idaho.

Meanwhile, Washington state already has a say in cleanup, regardless of what Idaho does, officials in Spokane said.

Under the same federal law that includes Superfund, Idaho’s metals cleanup must be thorough enough to meet Washington’s stricter standards, said John Roland, a hydrologist with the Washington Department of Ecology.

Washington has had a cooperative agreement with EPA since last winter, Roland said.

“It’s not going to be a standoff,” he said. “We’re optimistic that we’ll be able to agree on cleanup standards that meet the criteria we have in Washington state.”

If federal cleanup plans don’t go far enough, a lawsuit is a possibility, said Owen Clarke, an assistant state attorney general.

One option is suing mining companies over past polluting practices. A decision on a similar suit by the Coeur d’Alene Tribe and the federal government is expected in December.

The other is going to court to enforce Washington’s cleanup standards.

“But our efforts at this point have been to stay out of court and try to work on this cooperatively,” Clarke said. “It’s still our hope to do that.”

IDAHO HEADLINE: Tribe could toughen cleanup standards