EPA to put more emphasis on Bunker Hill Superfund site
Courtesy photo The hillsides surrounding the Bunker Hill Mining and Metallurgical Complex were nearly bare when the facility was active.
Courtesy photo Years later, after involvement from the EPA, IDEQ, and many other organizations, much of the region has been redeveloped for commercial and residential use. Vegetation has returned to the hillsides as well.
KELLOGG — The Bunker Hill Mining & Metallurgical Complex was recently named among the 30 sites that will receive expedited work in hopes of getting the region ready for development, for public service, commercial, recreational, ecological and residential use.
This announcement came on Jan. 17, when the Environmental Protection Agency released their Redevelopment Focus List; an initial list of Superfund National Priorities List sites with the greatest expected redevelopment and commercial potential.
A detailed release from EPA administrator Scott Pruitt discussed why the emphasis on these sites is being pursued.
“EPA developed this list in response to the Superfund Task Force Recommendations, issued July 25, 2017, which outlined administrator Pruitt’s expectations for a renewed focus on accelerating work and progress at all Superfund sites while working to successfully return Superfund sites to productive use in communities across the country…EPA believes the sites on the list have significant redevelopment potential based on previous outside interest, access to transportation corridors, land values, and other critical development drivers.
EPA will work with developers interested in reusing these and other Superfund sites; will identify potentially interested businesses and industries to keep them apprised of redevelopment opportunities; and will continue to engage with community groups in cleanup and redevelopment activities to promote the successful redevelopment and revitalization of their communities.”
EPA did acknowledge that the list of sites, while much smaller than the full list of more than 1,300 nationwide, was set up to easily direct interested developers and potential owners to the sites with the most redevelopment potential that are also closest to completion.
Regional EPA spokesman Mark MacIntyre spoke at length about how he is happy with the Bunker Hill site being a part of this list, and highlighted some of the bigger success stories that have come during the last few trying decades.
“With over 7,000 properties — private and commercial — now cleaned-up in the Silver Valley, it’s only natural that the Bunker Hill cleanup project make EPA’s Superfund Redevelopment Focus List,” MacIntyre said. “Building on our early cleanup success, Superfund redevelopment has helped area communities reclaim and reuse thousands of acres of formerly contaminated land. Cornerstone projects like the Silver Mountain Resort, Galena Ridge Golf Course, Walmart and O’Reilly Auto Parts have demonstrated our commitment to working with our partners and communities to bringing once dormant commercial properties back to economic life.”
MacIntyre also touched on the current happenings within the area and reiterated how the goal of the Superfund project continues to be community prosperity.
“We are currently embarked on a project with our partners IDEQ (Idaho Department of Environmental Quality) and the Panhandle Health District to use fill from local road repaving projects to bring nearby parcels up to grade to prepare them for future development,” MacIntyre said. “In another initiative, EPA has joined forces with IDEQ to explore ways we can assist communities with redevelopment training, site re-use visioning and new ways to help developers more easily understand any ongoing obligations or liabilities attached to specific parcels. The Superfund program remains dedicated to cleaning up contamination and reducing redevelopment barriers here in the Silver Valley. We share the communities’ desire to turn these properties into job generators and economic engines for prosperity.”
EPA representatives declined to reveal at this time what projects at the Bunker Hill site are to be expedited.
For more information on the EPA’s Superfund Redevelopment Focus List, as well as the complete list of sites on the list, visit www.epa.gov.