Environmental costs of Newport smelter

As I sit here at my desk and cry over the potential loss of my forever home in Spirit Lake, Idaho, I am shocked and appalled by the information that I find (or lack thereof) while researching the Newport Silicon Smelter Proposed Plan.

It seems that it is big news on Facebook, grassroots websites and forums. But I can’t help but ask why does every single newspaper article I read in every direction from it, read more like a smelter advertisement than true concern? And why is it that so few articles are written, and few and far between, when the largest factory in the northwest is going in, and all that is talked about (back in October and November when last reported on) are the jobs that may come?

As an RN, paramedic, business owner, and land and homeowner within 15 miles of this as the crow flies (or in this case — as the smog will float), I can honestly tell you that no amount of jobs are worth not being able to breathe, drink clean water and see the mountains around us (the reasons most of us moved here).

MK Shaw

Spirit Lake