Heavy metals accumulated from 100 years of mining in
Idaho’s Silver Valley (HCN, 11/25/96) are spreading into Washington
state, and environmentalists and state officials there want a say
in how to stop it.
“Just having Idaho control the
cleanup doesn’t hold any promise,” said Michele Nanni of the Inland
Empire Public Lands Council.
Last year,
Washington spent $300,000 studying pollution in the Spokane River
to determine whether grounds existed for a lawsuit against mining
companies. State tests confirmed that dissolved lead, zinc and
cadmium in excess of federal limits for protecting aquatic life do
migrate from Lake Coeur d’Alene into the Spokane River during high
flow periods.
Last May, the U.S. Geological
Survey also tested the Spokane River, and in dissolved
concentrations during flood stage, it found 3,300 pounds of lead,
17,000 pounds of zinc and 600 pounds of copper flowing by the test
site on one day alone.
Meanwhile, to clean up the
mess in Idaho, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Coeur d’Alene
Indian tribe have sued the eight mining companies still operating
in the area for $600 million. Now a federal judge in Boise is
considering adding to the suit 23 more companies – including
Atlantic Richfield Co. and Burlington Northern Railroad Co. Inc. –
which have mined in the Silver Valley over the past century.
*Mark
Matthews
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Heavy metals move.
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