The nonprofit Inland Empire Public Lands Council,
based in Washington state, broke new ground in public outreach when
it dropped 10,000 video cassettes on Spokane Valley doorsteps in
May. It produced the 10-minute video, “Get the LEAD out!” to alert
residents to the legacy of toxins from mining in the Spokane-Coeur
d’Alene watershed. “We want citizens to urge Washington state
politicians to get involved in what is happening with the pollution
that mining companies have left us upriver in northern Idaho,” says
council organizer Sam Mace. Public interest since the video barrage
has been high.
“We are still sending out a
half-dozen videos a day in response to requests,” says council
director Mark Solomon. Not every response has been flattering,
however. The Spokesman-Review in Spokane accused environmentalists
of encouraging “lead scare” and “divisiveness.” The editorial also
criticized the Washington State Department of Ecology for funding
the $38,500 video campaign. Solomon says that no general tax money
was used; the money came from surcharges paid to the state by
companies that use hazardous substances. On a more laudatory note,
the Seattle Post-Intelligencer likened the council’s effort to a
successful regional effort in 1992 to clean Chesapeake Bay: “That
seems a far more promising approach than letting Idaho go it
alone.” For a copy of the video, write the Inland Empire Public
Lands Council at P.O. Box 2174, Spokane, WA 99210; or call
509/838-4912; or e-mail at
IEPLC@IEPLC.desktop.org.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Getting the lead out.
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