Despite some of the rhetoric coming from opponents of the proposed Superfund cleanup of the upper Coeur d’Alene basin, “EPA go home” isn’t an option. In fact, the law is fairly clear why EPA is in the basin and what needs to be done. A quick review of the relevant federal regulations might be helpful. According to the governing federal regulations, the EPA’s primary purpose more »
We have obtained a copy of a cleanup counter-proposal for the upper Coeur d’Alene basin from Hecla Mining, and not surprisingly, the mining company proposes a much shorter, much cheaper, much less comprehensive, cleanup. We’re still weeding through their complicated 378-page, 10-year proposal, but based on a quick skim, we’re skeptical that their plan will meet cleanup standards in our lifetime. Or anyone’s lifetime. As more »
It is, officially, National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week. It’s an annual coordinated concentration of education and awareness regarding lead poisoning, which is recognized by the CDC as the number one environmental health threat to children in the U.S. In most parts of the country, the focus is on deteriorating lead-based paint, which was widely used in residential housing prior to being banned in 1978. However, more »
Perhaps one of the more important legal decisions nobody knows about just yet. Logging roads will now require stormwater permits under the Clean Water Act. — A New Century of Forest Planning How money to clean up the Silver Valley was lost to a politically connected British businessman — The Johnson Post SHT loads up the Lochsa. (That’s “super huge trucks” in case you were more »
We heard earlier in the week that the EPA would probably be extending the comment period for cleanup proposal for the upper Coeur d’Alene Basin. Well, it is indeed true. Commenters will now have another 90 days to put their thoughts together. Here’s hoping that the comments are more carefully considered and better informed than what we heard at the public hearing and listening session more »
Last night, Senator Crapo and Governor Otter hosted another round of opposition to the EPA’s proposed cleanup plan for the Silver Valley. Mostly a rerun of last week’s hearing, Hecla Mining employees, local citizens, and local politicians lined up for 90 seconds at the microphone. The same complaints – that the cleanup will (somehow) affect mining jobs, that it is an unlimited federal program with more »
Last week, in anticipation of the formal public hearing on the EPA cleanup in the Silver Valley, we received a postcard mailing purportedly from “Citizens for a Prosperous Silver Valley” critical of the EPA proposal. The return address was a box in a Coeur d’Alene UPS Store, and we couldn’t find any further information about this alleged group of so-called citizens. Without any explanation, the more »
H.L. Mencken once noted that “Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.” And with a “listening session” with Senator Crapo and Governor Otter scheduled Monday evening in Kellogg, we’re concerned for the EPA’s new cleanup plan for the Silver Valley. In a pending amendment to EPA’s “Record of Decision” governing the Superfund more »
As the future of the Coeur d’Alene Basin cleanup hits center stage this week, legal interns Sean Waite and Jeff Briggs supply this tutorial: In a recent Coeur d’Alene Press editorial, and many times throughout the long history of the Coeur d’Alene basin cleanup plan, the question has been raised; “who is really going to end up paying for all this?” While a complete response to more »
Vacationing with the pine beetles in Colorado this week, I’m still checking emails and here’s a semi-important one from EPA: The public comment period opens today on EPA’s Proposed Cleanup Plan for the Upper Coeur d’Alene Basin. Documents are available for review on the web at http://go.usa.gov/igD. You can also view the documents on CD-ROM at North Idaho College’s Molstead Library, Wallace Public Library, Spokane more »
