Cda To Hire Expert To Help Officials React To Epa Study Federal Report On River Basin Will Identify Contaminants, Advise On Cleanup

The Coeur d’Alene City Council voted Tuesday night to hire an expert to help local elected officials understand and react to a federal environmental study.

The City Council approved an agreement with Merril Coomes, of Denver-based Coomes Associates, to help it sort through the reams of information that will come out of the Environmental Protection Agency’s study of the Coeur d’Alene River Basin.

That study, which could be made public in December, is trying to identify what types of contamination exist in the river basin; what hazards they pose to people and the ecology; and a feasible method of cleanup, said Dick Martindale, the EPA’s community liaison.

Mayor Steve Judy said Coomes will essentially be a city employee, even though he will be paid through a $75,000 grant from the EPA.

“He’s a technical expert to advise local communities on the scientific issues that affect the lake and our communities,” Judy said.

The city will take direction from a board that includes Judy, Kootenai County Commissioner Dick Panabaker, Harrison Mayor Dave LePard and Post Falls Mayor Gus Johnson.

“It’s just an awful lot for us to absorb,” Panabaker said of the EPA study.

“We need someone familiar with their processes so we can understand them.”

Martindale said the current basin study is just over a year old.

“We are hoping for a record of decision by December of this year,” Martindale said.

“But because the basin is so big, we don’t know if that will be the final record of decision.”

Judy said Coomes’ expertise will help elected officials react to the findings of the study that could directly affect uses of Lake Coeur d’Alene, the region’s main tourism draw.

“We’ve got to get somebody in here who understands the EPA process and can turn it into something we can understand,” Judy said.