Spokane environmentalists should be angry that prominent U.S. Geological Survey scientist Art Horowitz canceled his appearance before a Superfund review committee Thursday in Coeur d’Alene. Horowitz is an expert on the mining waste that lines the bottom of Lake Coeur d’Alene and, some contend, threatens public health in North Idaho and downstream. His public testimony would have been invaluable.

Horowitz decided to be a no-show at the National Academy of Sciences committee meeting because the panel also invited Thomas Pedersen, a University of Victoria science dean and mining company consultant. Eight years ago, in the journal Northwest Science, Pedersen criticized a controversial 1993 study in which Horowitz suggested that metals trapped on the lake bottom could eventually pose a health hazard. Pedersen slammed Horowitz again in more recent comments published in publisher Duane Hagadone’s North Idaho newspapers.

“When I heard Tom Pedersen was coming,” Horowitz told The Spokesman-Review, “I changed my mind about going to Coeur d’Alene. He’s a mining company consultant, and he’s never done any work on the lake. I refuse to dignify this with my presence.”

Rather than be angry with Horowitz for passing up the chance to prove the superiority of his research, the Lands Council and the local Sierra Club accused the scientific panel of bias for allowing Pedersen to testify – and for lodging at hotels owned by Hagadone, a former Bunker Limited Partnership mining executive who has used his newspapers to editorialize against expanded Superfund cleanup.

Maybe there is something in the water that the Spokane environmentalists are drinking. The mining companies and hospitality industry have a right to be heard on this important issue, as do Spokane residents who may comment at a public meeting from 6:30 to 8:30 tonight at the Shilo Inn, 923 E. Third Ave. Thursday’s meeting, beginning at 8:30 a.m. in the Best Western Coeur d’Alene Inn, will feature technical presentations and testimony from federal, state and tribal government officials.

Spokane environmentalists are reaching when they imply that a distinguished group of 18 experts can be swayed by accommodations in Hagadone’s hotels. Hagadone isn’t providing food and lodging without charge. The Environmental Protection Agency is footing the bill.

By conjuring straw men to criticize the work of the National Academy of Sciences panel, local environmentalists diminish their legitimate concerns about the health threat posed by mine tailings at the bottom of Lake Coeur d’Alene. By providing a summary of his research rather than appearing in person, Horowitz will undercut his call for another study of the lake bottom. Fortunately, two other scientists will present the U.S. Geological Survey work at the all-day hearing.

The review of Superfund cleanup plans for Idaho mine wastes is too important for hurt feelings and political posturing to get in the way.