Cleanup work wraps up for the year
The city of Kellogg has to keep its recently-replaced roads well maintained as part of an agreement with the EPA to maintain a barrier that keeps the contaminant soil beneath the pavement away from human exposure. The funds to keep up with this maintenance come from the city's local option, non-property tax on the city's short-term rentals.
NEWS-PRESS File Photo
A loader fills one of the many truckloads of waste materials that was taken from the Success Mine, just a few miles north of Wallace near Nine Mile Creek.
The Environmental Protection Agency in partnership with all of the agencies involved in the Coeur d’Alene Basin Cleanup Project (CDABCP) has announced a wrap to a successful year of cleanup projects in the region.
The projects ranged in size from residential all the way to full-scale mine site cleanups.
As many of the communities in the Silver Valley get new roads, the projects are one of the many projects funded through different sources throughout the CDABCP.
“To date, paving close to 500 road segments in local communities,” EPA spokesperson Mark MacIntyre said. “The new pavement acts as an effective barrier to the mine waste below.”
More than 50 residential and commercial properties were cleaned over the course of the construction season.
Above Wallace, the Success Mine in the Nine Mile Creek area saw massive changes as more than 50,000 cubic yards of contaminated waste were removed, which should lower contamination levels in the creek, according to project officials.
Crews also completed three separate remedy protection projects. These projects are important because they ensure that previous work that was completed doesn’t get undone.
These three remedy protection projects totaled more than $1.5 million to complete.
Perhaps the biggest project though, was the heavily planned and researched upgrades to the Bunker Hill Central Treatment Plant in Kellogg, as well as the construction of the underground retaining wall and water collection system between the Bunker Hill central impoundment area and I-90.
As of right now, the project is right on pace for completion, with the underground wall at 90 percent finished.
“During this Thanksgiving season, we’re thankful for our Basin cleanup partners: the state, the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, community members, local elected officials and the Basin Commission,” MacIntyre said. “We’re happy to report another successful season of protecting communities, reducing health risks and rehabilitating the local landscape.”
More than 10,000 truckloads of contaminated materials were taken from these projects and put in secure repositories.