Andy Mork, an Idaho Department of Environmental Quality mine waste program scientist, will hold public meetings this spring on the need for a new repository to dump contaminated soil from the Silver Valley. Sites between Kellogg and Mullan are under consideration for heavy metals specifically culled from the upper Coeur d’Alene River Basin. Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency identified 300 other sites polluted with heavy metals in the upper basin. Comforting thought, since the area is largely a floodplain, and when the water rises, pollution heads downstream.

The article mentioned the controversial 20-acre East Mission Flats Repository, neighbors with Cataldo Mission. Opposed by the Silver Valley Community Resource Center and investigated by the EPA Office of Inspector General for lack of public notice and comment, that site is still in its final design stage. Full article HERE, and we’ll keep you posted as the story develops.

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