Idaho wants to eliminate Washington's voice in the clean-up. It is not in our best interest to turn our health future over to Idaho. EPA should retain cleanup authority. The Superfund clean-up is complicated because of the massive extent of the mining pollution and risks to both human health and ecological health. The draft plan particians the impacted area, and presents clean-up alternatives for each part of the Coeur d'Alene Basin.
Floods carry Idaho's mining waste into Washington, polluting waters and beaches.
Lake Coeur d'Alene's bottom is a virtual dead zone, covered with 70 million tons of toxic sediments. With each flood, the lake is further polluted. Just upstream from the lake are the wetlands containing 100 million tons of mine wastes. Over a million pounds of lead flowed into Lake Coeur d'Alene in a single day of the February 1996 flood. Ask EPA to include Lake Coeur d'Alene in any cleanup plan.