Bunker Hill Superfund Site Q & A: Part 5

Q: Why is there an Institutional Controls Program? A: I occasionally hear from citizens a belief that cleaned up areas cannot be disturbed or developed and are off the market. This is not true. Sometimes people who have used the Institutional Controls Program (ICP) do not fully understand why it is used. The ICP is a mechanism allowing the Kellogg Panhandle Health District (PHD) to assist people with normal land activities within a superfund cleanup area. PHD offers free education about how to keep cleaned areas clean, provides documentation needed for land transactions, and provides a system for earthwork and building construction that creates a record needed for sale or loans. The ICP ensures that cleanup remains functional and protective over the long term. Education, information, permits, and site visits are necessary but free. The ICP is a unique requirement as a part of this superfund area, but helps our communities co-exist with cleanup. One example of a large-scale project made possible by the ICP was the land purchase and development of the gondola and Silver Mountain Resort. More recently, Smelterville was able to bring in Wal-Mart by using the ICP. Each residential project and local business project is equally important. In 2010 alone, PHD assisted with nearly 500 land transactions, 936 permits in the Basin, and 1,241 permits in the Box. PHD wrote and adopted the ICP, which can be found in the Idaho Administrative Rules (IDAPA §41.01.01) or obtained through the Kellogg PHD office. Visit 114 Riverside Avenue, Kellogg, or call (208) 783-0707. Q: What is the ICP Administrative Boundary and why is my property in the ICP Boundary if I am not in the floodplain? A: The ICP Administrative Boundary in the Coeur d’Alene Basin (CDA) was determined by the 100-year floodplain of the CDA River. The ICP also took into account residential and commercial development areas outside of the floodplain. The first reason goes back to the purpose of the ICP; many driveways, landscaped areas, and building sites in the CDA Basin received mine waste as fill and show high content of lead and arsenic. The second reason could result from the fact that the boundary line was drawn using quarter sections. If a portion of the quarter section falls within the floodplain, that whole quarter is considered inside the ICP Administrative Boundary. Sediment sampling found that most floodplain areas of the South Fork and main stem of the Coeur d’Alene River are contaminated. The North Fork of the CDA River system is not designated within this superfund site. Only the first two road miles following the North Fork are inside the ICP boundary. The ICP Administrative Boundary description was accomplished through the public process of the Basin Environmental Improvement Project Commission (BEIPC), which included review by the Citizens Coordinating Council and Technical Leadership Group, and discussion at Basin Commission meetings. Both the Panhandle Health District and BEIPC recommended the ICP Administrative Boundary to the Idaho Legislature for review and inclusion under the Idaho Administrative Procedures Act. The ICP rule applies to every property in the ICP Administrative Boundary area and those outside of the boundary that had mining and smelting-related contamination brought onto the property.