Hecla Mining appeal rejected
The U.S. Supreme Court has opted not to hear an appeal by Hecla Mining Co. over cleanup liability in the Coeur d’Alene basin.
Monday’s decision means that Hecla won’t be eligible for a $7 million credit for cleanup of residential yards contaminated with historic mining waste.
In 1994, Hecla and other mining companies signed a consent order, agreeing to a scope of cleanup work in the 21-square-mile Bunker Hill Superfund site. Hecla and Asarco Inc. later argued that they didn’t know the federal government would eventually seek a larger, basinwide cleanup and also hold them responsible for that.
U.S. District Court Judge Edward Lodge agreed to cut the companies’ remaining cleanup obligation by 20 percent, or $7 million, in 2003. However, that ruling was later overturned and Hecla decided to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Asarco has since filed for bankruptcy.
The court’s decision not to hear the case isn’t a make-or-break situation for Hecla, said company spokeswoman Vicki Veltkamp.
Pullman
WSU partnering with Swiss
Washington State University’s College of Business is partnering with University Centre Cesar Ritz in Brig, Switzerland, to offer courses as part of WSU’s International Business program beginning in fall 2007.
WSU students can elect to spend one semester in Europe, either as part of the international business major or to earn a minor in the discipline. WSU’s College of Business hopes to double the number of students studying abroad to 120 per semester, the school said in a press release.
The college also conducts international programs in Thailand, Vietnam and Norway.
Spokane
ISM in line for fed funding
Spokane’s newly created Institute for Systems Medicine is in line to receive a federal appropriation of $500,000 for biomedical research, the group’s spokesman said Wednesday.
The ISM, a private medical research facility that expects to be supported by contracts and research grants, was launched last year by a group of Spokane business and educational leaders.
The money, announced earlier by Rep. Cathy McMorris, R-Wash., is included in a Defense Department budget that was sent to the White House for approval.
ISM spokesman Lewis Rumpler said if signed, the budget appropriation will support ISM work in the field of epigenetics, a specialty field in genomic research, to investigate the causes of battlefield diseases.
Washington State University professor Mike Skinner will lead the research project; his discoveries formed the basis for the funded research.