by Barbara Miller

Kellogg, Idaho, is the epicenter of one of-if not the-largest Superfund sites in the nation. More than 20 years ago, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) designated 21 square miles of the Bunker Hill mining area in Silver Valley, Idaho to its National Priority List, thus earmarking it for immediate cleanup due to the human health risk factors. Today the site has grown to 1,500 more square miles and the human health risk exposure to lead and the other heavy metals is worse off than ever.

The present state and national government agencies play into the hands of the special mining and tourism interests in the area. They eagerly want to claim that the Bunker Hill mining site is cleaned up and ready for reinvestment, while community activists call for further heath testing and additional remediation.

The earth in the panhandle of northern Idaho holds rich deposits of lead, silver, zinc, cadmium and other heavy metals. Mining companies proudly boast of the billions of dollars in raw minerals that have been taken out of the isolated North Idaho area around Kellogg since the late 1800s. These same mining and smelting companies left behind conditions that have lead-poisoned five generations of families. According to the EPA, an estimated 100 million tons of contaminated sediments and other materials cover the Coeur d'Alene Basin, making the Bunker Hill site one of the largest Superfund sites in the country.

Superfund sites are designated to the National Priority List (NPL) because they pose serious health and environmental threats to those around them. In Silver Valley, threats include high levels of lead-poisoning and other hazards.
Local, regional, state and national health agencies have studied area families nearly to death. The titles alone of the health studies fill more than 90 pages. All of them, including an unnecessary National Academy of Science (NAS) two-year investigation, concluded that all citizens are at high risk and mentioned repeatedly that more intervention must be undertaken for removal of the contamination, as well as treatment for the adverse health problems of the Bunker Hill Superfund site residents. Dr. John Osborn, a Spokane physician and conservation chair of the Washington State Sierra Club said this about the NAS report, “The scientists confirm that the hazards are real, children remain at risk, and we need to do much more in the Spokane River-Lake Coeur d'Alene watershed to protect human health and the environment.”

Lead is a contaminant that is known to cause health effects in children and adults, including severe neurological and other health disorders, behavioral problems, learning disabilities, seizures and death.

Part of the challenge facing health and environmental activists is confronting the dual loyalties of local health officials, who should be responsible for informing parents and children about the hazards of lead poisoning and overseeing effective lead screening. However, the local health director is also on numerous economic development committees, representing business interests. And what would benefit the business community? Answer: low percentages of elevated lead levels, enabling businesses to move forward with plans to redevelop Silver Valley.
Once the results of children who are tested and found with elevated lead levels is low enough, the Superfund site will be declared cleaned up! Never mind that there are thousands of children who are mandated by Medicaid to be lead-screened and are not, never mind that recent research indicates that even lower amounts of lead than the Center for Disease Control standards of 10 ug/dl cause serious neurological health problems in young children. The EPA acknowledges this and has called for the remediation of lead in the interior of homes, which often contain two-to-50 times more lead inside than in their remediated yards. But so far they are doing nothing about this pathway of exposure.

Bunker Hill is not unlike many communities that live with pollution and contamination these days. Many feel hopeless and unheard. The grassroots organization, Silver Valley Community Resource Center, is trying to turn that around, working for environmental justice, hope, and a restored quality of life.

With about 300 members in its rural area, SVCRC works to hold the EPA accountable for cleanup at Bunker Hill, to educate the community about toxic waste, and to counter the misinformation and harassment generated by local corporations who oppose cleanup of the site. For example, in 1983, when the Bunker Hill site was first designated as a superfund site, the EPA negotiated with mining companies for a lesser standard (1,000 ppm versus 400 ppm), even though the EPA endorsed the higher clean-up level in other communities.

This struggle was detailed in the 2004 documentary Heavy Metal, which has aired on public television. The producer, Hans Rosenwinkel, has agreed to give a portion of film revenue to support the SVCRC.
As concerned parents, environmental activists, politicians and members of government agencies, we must find a way to work together to eliminate the apathy that is spreading across the land to expose and eliminate the industry-driven attacks and corporate intimidation.

As environmental justice advocates, we must organize and form coalitions despite the poverty in our communities and other challenges in order to create a drumbeat for positive social justice reform. One way of doing this is to develop solidarity of labor, church, parents and other activists to send a message that we are not the polluters, we are not the violators and we want our communities cleaned up and health problems addressed now.

It's time to share the passion that the dedicated community environmental justice leaders exhibit. We must organize to form a more unified movement and to protect our Mother Earth for our children and their children.

---

Barbara Miller is the director of the Silver Valley Community Resource Center, which received a grant from Resist last year. For more information, contact SVCRC, PO Box 362, Kellogg, ID 83837; www.imbris.net/~paccrcco.