Basin Cleanup Scaled Way Back

The proposed $1.3 billion Superfund cleanup of a century of mining contamination in North Idaho’s Coeur d’Alene Basin is being scaled back significantly, Idaho lawmakers were told Tuesday. Instead of taking up to 100 years and costing $1.3 billion, the cleanup would last more like 30 years and cost about $736 million, Idaho Department of Environmental Quality Director Toni Hardesty told the House Environment Committee. The Environmental Protection Agency will be unveiling the proposed changes at a Coeur d’Alene Basin Commission meeting Wednesday in Wallace. “We were hopeful that they would scale that back significantly,” Hardesty said. “It’s consistent with the comments that the state submitted, so we’re pleased”/ Betsy Z. Russell , Eye On Boise. More here. (Betsy Russell photo: Idaho Rep. Shannon McMillan, right, and her son James, left, listen to committee debate on their resolution ordering the EPA to leave the Coeur d’Alene Basin)

Question: Do you support the move to significantly scale back Coeur d’Alene Basin cleanup?