Keeping the EPA in check

A March 26 story in The Spokesman-Review carried the headline, “Lawmakers back wider basin cleanup: Resolution to EPA calls for input on extra cost to Idaho.” A clarification is in order.

While I, as the sponsor of the resolution, accept current cleanup activities, my intent and that of the Idaho Legislature is to ensure complete and full review by the Legislature before any expansion in the Coeur d’Alene Basin Cleanup. The EPA’s proposal to expand the cleanup effort from a roughly $350 million project over 30 years to a project which will cost the taxpayers somewhere between $1.2 billion and $2.2 billion over a 40- to 120-year time period is a potential disaster for the economic health of Idaho and a waste of taxpayer money.

The Legislature is determined to have a full review before any action is taken on a federal government program with no accountability. The support from Idaho is a key requirement for the EPA to move forward. This resolution ensures that it is done in the light of day.

Joyce Broadsword

Idaho state senator

Cocolalla