Environmentalists, Coeur d’Alene Tribe members
and government attorneys are doing victory jigs over a federal
court ruling regarding a north Idaho Superfund site. Even the
mining companies seem fairly pleased with the outcome this
time.
The Coeur d’Alene Tribe and the federal
government have wrangled in court with two mining companies for
over a decade, arguing that Hecla and Asarco are responsible for
pollution seeping from 64 million tons of mine tailings in the
Silver Valley. In September, Judge Edward Lodge ruled that the
companies are liable for cleanup costs, as well as “natural
resources damage.”
Companies deemed responsible for
pollution under Superfund law typically pay only for Environmental
Protection Agency “response costs,” which deal with
issues that directly affect human health. Lodge’s ruling that
the mining companies caused damage to natural resources —
specifically water, soils, fish, tundra swans and vegetation
— is significant because it means the companies are
financially responsible, not just for human health, but also for
restoring the landscape, water and wildlife.
But according
to Hecla representative Vicki Veltkamp, “Lodge ruled that
overall natural resources damage is far less serious than had been
portrayed (by the EPA and the tribe).” Lodge also decided
that the two companies contributed to only 53 percent of the total
tailings (the remaining 47 percent came from other mining
operations) and therefore are responsible for a little more than
half of the estimated $1.3 billion in damages.
In May,
Lodge will put a final price tag on damages. The remaining cleanup
costs will be covered by federal tax dollars and the state of
Idaho.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Mining companies slapped with half the bill for Superfund mess.
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