State Uses Superfund In Cleanup Plan Draft Includes Targeted Use Upriver From Lake Cda; Spokane River Sites In Washington Get Attention

The state of Idaho’s draft strategy for cleaning up Silver Valley mine waste contains some hot spots of its own.

The plan partly relies on Superfund money to attack major pollution cleanups upriver from Lake Coeur d’Alene.

And it predicts spending at least $9.45 million for cleaning up contaminated Spokane River sediments in Washington state.

Preliminary estimates put the cost of the state’s proposal at $478 million, ranging between $408 million and $670 million.

State officials don’t want to use Superfund dollars for everything. They pledge to reject Superfund sites around Lake Coeur d’Alene.

Other money will come from Idaho’s coffers - at least $1 million a year - and from a prospective court settlement.

But the state is weighing Superfund designations for 520 different actions ranging from demolishing Hecla, Star and Coeur d’Alene Mine mill sites to digging up contaminated sediments along the Lower Coeur d’Alene River.

“We are looking at those to see where Superfund fits,” said Steve Allred, director of the state Department of Environmental Quality.

The plan also proposes:

Several repositories for metals-laced waste, possibly locating one or two along the South Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River and two or three along the lower river;

Closing 14 old mine openings;

Spot removals of contaminated sediment in marshy lakes along the lower Coeur d’Alene River, sometimes with barges.

Controlling erosion of contaminated river banks on the lower Coeur d’Alene River with rip-rap and plantings.

Reaction to the plan was limited. Representatives of industry and environmental groups had yet to receive the plan. It also was not available at the DEQ’s Coeur d’Alene office.

Activists hailed the proposed use of much-maligned Superfund money by the state of Idaho as a positive sign.

“I’m glad the state is willing to use Superfund dollars because that just adds to the prospects for cleanup,” said Michele Nanni, of The Lands Council in Spokane.

Some Spokane county and city officials recently said they oppose the stigma associated with future Superfund sites set up to clean up metals pollution on Spokane River beaches.

Idaho politicians and business interests oppose Superfund sites near Lake Coeur d’Alene.

But North Idaho businesses and politicians with CLEAN - Community Leaders for EPA Accountability Now - back the state’s proposal for limited use of Superfund in Silver Valley cleanup.

“If they feel that’s the best way to tap into funds for projects, then we support those projects,” said Bret Bowers, CLEAN’s executive director.

Mining companies say the state’s plan is too pricey, an industry spokeswoman said.

The mines - partly responsible for future cleanup - calculated the cost of the necessary work at between $100 million and $140 million.

The companies have also offered up to $250 million over 30 years to settle a damages lawsuit filed by the U.S. government and Coeur d’Alene Tribe that goes to trial next January.

“So we felt we did more than our share,” said Holly Houston, with the Mining Information Office in Coeur d’Alene.

Washington state concerns were not included in early drafts of Idaho’s strategy, said John Roland, with the Washington Department of Ecology.

But the proposal’s cost estimate now includes $9.45 million to $11.5 million for work on Spokane River sediments.

The money could pay for beach cleanups at places such as Barker Road, where arsenic poses a potential threat to children. It could also pay for removing metals-laced sediments that may have built up against Upriver Dam.

“These are very preliminary projections,” Roland said.

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Cleanup options

By next spring, Idaho’s proposal will be one of six cleanup options for Silver Valley mine waste released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Other options include: a no-action alternative; three EPA alternatives including one wrapping in recommendations from the Coeur d’Alene Tribe; and a proposal from mining companies.

The state plans to release another, updated version of the cleanup proposal next month. Public hearings start in late August.