Meetings discussing Superfund lands draws diverse interests
Photo by CHANSE WATSON Idaho Department of Environmental Quality Remediation Program Manager Dan McCracken (center) speaks with a group of citizens on Thursday about how to spur economic development in the Silver Valley.
Photo by CHANSE WATSON Roughly 40 people attended the community forum last week to give their two cents on how some of the remediated superfund land should be used.
KELLOGG — The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality hosted a series of meetings discussing DEQ-owned lands that were rehabilitated as part of the Bunker Hill Superfund project.
The town hall-style meetings focused on multiple aspects of the potential reuse of these remediated lands, tailored distinctly to four major Silver Valley audiences: government, business, tourism and recreation, and community.
IDEQ had contracted with Skeo Solutions, a Virginia-based contractor that routinely works on rehabilitating Superfund sites with agencies like IDEQ and the EPA, to host and conduct the meetings.
Prior to Thursday night’s community-focused meeting, the other three meetings took place on Wednesday, beginning with the local governments.
That meeting was followed by one with business and tourism leaders, who all listened intently to a presentation from Alisa Hefner, a senior designer with Skeo Solutions.
Throughout her presentations, Hefner ran through a multitude of differing points concerning the properties.
The properties in question are located from the west end of Smelterville to Kellogg’s Central Impoundment Area.
Listing out goals, defining community assets, and discussing housing, recreation and economic development options, Hefner spoke at length about potential reuse strategies for these properties.
All of these points were meant to generate conversation among the attendees regarding what the best use of these lands could be.
“This is really an opportunity for you guys to share some ideas on what you think can be done at these specific properties,” Hefner said.
During a trip to the area last August, Skeo gathered information based on existing documents to put together a list of goals for the area.
While the topics were narrowed down to three categories (economic development, housing and recreation), they were diverse in nature.
Diversifying the economy and increasing the local tax base, increasing jobs, local services and amenities were all part of the economic development, while increased workforce housing and recreational amenities fell under the other two categories.
“We want to see families move here and stay here,” Hefner said.
The discussion that followed the presentation gave Hefner some insight into the community and their way of thinking.
“The major theme yesterday, in my opinion, was how do we create a healthy balance between increased access to recreational opportunities (i.e. Whitewater park, non-motorized and motorized trail systems, sports complex, etc.) and bringing industries that have higher wages (light industrial manufacturing), while also providing workforce style housing with green space and having pet-friendly housing,” said Mallory Phillips, Silver Valley Chamber director. “On the tourism side there were a lot of awesome ideas that were discussed. One idea that excited me was the Whitewater Park. This idea is being done all over the country, and it is one of the lower-hanging-fruit ideas that could draw in tourism dollars quicker than some of the bigger tourism expanding ideas (i.e. expanded trail systems, rock climbing gym, amphitheater, etc.).”
Shoshone County Commissioner Mike Fitzgerald was pleased to see the interest the talks generated.
“The disposition of the Superfund — IDEQ-owned properties is of interest to everyone in our community,” Fitzgerald said. “It is very good to see the strong level of interest in placing the properties into productive uses.”
Despite the strong response, there are still difficult roads to navigate because the biggest question still seems to be, “where do we start?”
“There are a ton of awesome ideas from all walks of life in the Silver Valley, but the question on everyone’s minds last night is how do we make them happen?” Phillips said. “What are the next steps that need to be taken to pull investors, businesses and build recreational tourism.”
The Silver Valley Chamber will be hosting another meeting discussing the Superfund properties on May 9, at the Panhandle Health District building at 11:30 a.m.