JOIN THE MORE THAN 2000 PEOPLE WHO HAVE ASKED THAT THE TOXIC DUMP AT HISTORIC CATALDO MISSION BE STOPPED.
ALERT
PLEASE READ AND SIGN OUR PETITION
ONLINEOR stop by the SVCRC office to sign it in person.
July 1, WATERKEEPER CONFERENCE REPORT -
Executive Director Barbara Miller returned recently from the Waterkeeper Conference in New York.
Waterkeeper assisted her with a scholarship to cover some expenses, and she used donated frequent flyer miles to cover air travel.
While at the conference, Miller met with Waterkeepers from all over the world! During that time she was provided with time to explain to conference attendees about who and what Silver Valley Waterkeeper is and does. She was able to call for support and distributed flyers about SVCRC's action plan to stop the Mission Repository.
In addition, Miller spoke with Bobby Kennedy, Jr during the conference. Kennedy committed to coming to Idaho; the dates for his visit are currently being planned!
At the conference, Miller learned about global water issues and a most interesting cleanup of Hudson River pollution.
She also had the opportunity to speak with former President Bill Clinton while he was at the conference to make a presentation. Miller told Clinton about the issues at the Mission Repository. Clinton requested that Miller send him more information, and this has been done.
Please sign our petition and keep up your calls and emails to Congressman Minnick and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson.
In the meantime EPA and IDEQ have convinced us that they will deliberatly ignore public comment and the IG's report and begin dumping and other activity on July 1.
As an At-Large Board Member at SVCRC, I encourage everyone to support your community through their twenty plus years of focused activity for the health and well-bing of the Silver Valley.
Please save all your empty Frito-Lay bags and mail them or drop them off at the SVCRC office.
Dr. Gayle
LEAD AWARENESS: PROTECT YOUR COMMUNITY NOW AND FOR THE FUTURE. HAVE YOUR CHILDREN TESTED FOR LEAD EXPOSURE.
"AS A TRIBAL MEMBER OF THE CDA TRIBE I AM THE 5TH GENERATION
(OFF) OF THE TRIBAL MEMBERS THAT BUILT THE MISSION, AND GO BACK EVERY YEAR ON AUG 15. IT IS MY HOME, AND MY HEART.
IF IT WAS TO BE, THAT IS THE PLACE THAT I WISH TO BE LAID TO REST."
Calvin Nomee, Coeur d'Alene Tribe
Breaking News
July 1, 2009
Office of the Inspector General: Report on the East Mission
Flats Repository.
The people of the Silver Valley tired of being exploited......
"I find this whole mess up in the Cataldo area very disturbing, and I think each of you should be fully aware of these issues. What is upstream - eventually comes downstream. And lately our EPA's behavior and statements nationwide have been less than admirable.
Bev Twillmann
Neighbors for Responsible Growth"
Local and National News - Kootenai County, Idaho
Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009 - 10:14:25 pm PDT
MISSION FLATS: Contamination likely
I live in Cataldo, just east of the new East Mission Flats Repository. I've attended IDEQ/EPA community meetings on the repository over the past two years and always felt EPA and IDEQ were doing thorough research on the proposed repository. But on June 8, the EPA Inspector General's office made available their own ($418,000) evaluation of EPA Region 10 and IDEQ's work citing several disturbing problems.
The report (available at www.epa.gov/oig) raises serious concerns about potential groundwater contamination. It found that EPA's analysis of the site's soil makeup and floodwater penetration issues was inaccurate and incomplete, and that groundwater contamination is likely.
The current design contains no liner to prevent infiltration, and the cap does not extend down the sides of the repository. EPA Region 10 also failed to address the underlying water's low oxygen content, which increases its ability to dissolve heavy metals, thus freeing these metals to flow downstream.
The groundwater beneath the site is currently clean, despite two to four feet of contaminated sediments on the surface. However, according to the inspector general's report, at a nearby site where the contaminated soil layer is much deeper due to historic dredging and dumping, the groundwater has more than double the accepted level of zinc.
My wellhead lies within a quarter mile of the Mission Flats Repository, so contaminated groundwater is a critical issue for me personally. But my own problems pale in relationship to the potential for broad groundwater contamination and further pollution of the Coeur d'Alene River and all the water bodies it feeds.
EPA/IDEQ plans to begin dumping contaminated waste in July, only days from now, as well as beginning construction on a bridge from the I-90 exit onto the repository site. Once these activities begin, I imagine there is no turning back.
I'm asking local citizens to contact Congressman Walt Minnick's office requesting a full moratorium. You can speak to the Congressman's environmental staff person, Devin Nagy, at (202) 225-6611 or e-mail him at Devin.Nagy@mail.house.gov. You can also e-mail EPA Director Lisa Jackson at Jackson.Lisa@epamail.epa.gov. Siting a 34-foot pyramid of contaminated soil in a floodplain directly adjacent to I-90 is incredibly convenient but not the least bit wise.
My thanks to the EPA Inspector General's office for the breadth of their research and the Silver Valley Community Resource Center for pressing the IG to review EPA Region 10.
SUSAN MITCHELL, Cataldo
http://www.cdapress.com/articles/2009/07/01/editorials/letters/
letter04.txt
from the Coeur d'Alene Press, CDAPress.com
June 10, 2009
To Everyone who helped support the Inspector General's investigation: sVCRC has received the report of the review that SVCRC, a complete grassroots movement, launched more than two years ago. It is a partial victory!
This is the first time in one hundred years that the affected community of the nation's largest Superfund site has spoken out, fought back and was heard!
We still question Region Ten's transparency and public comment process. In addition SVCRC feels that it is unfortunate that another $400,000 had to be spent in an ongoing effort to reduce lead exposure to innocent children and families, and that this money was not spent for lead education, outreach and intervention.
The concern right now is that we know Region Ten still can ignore the IG's recommendations, has stated their intention to dump at the Mission Repository and new sites in the Silver Valley, ignoring the voice of the community-at-large that has said NO.
SVCRC asks that everyone reading this message know of our appreciation for your support. We ask that you send an email to Lisa Jackson, newly appointed to head EPA, to come to the Silver Valley, epicenter of the nation's largest lead Superfund site, and to meet with us in an effort to clear up on-going corruption at/in Region X and at the Bunker Hill Superfund site.
Be sure to put Bunker Hill Superfund site in the subject line. The message does not have to be long, it is just important that emails are sent to her, asap! Jackson.Lisa@epamail.epa.gov
Also Write President Obama www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
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To the editor: Re: Swans
Sad is the plight of the Tundra Swan, sadder is the fact that the lead that starved the swans still exists in highly toxic quantities throughout the Silver Valley and Coeur D'Alene Basin. As a result, this toxic pollution and tons of heavy metals remain untreated and ignored to go about damaging bodies and intellects of far too many children, adults and tourists.
Why? Exposure is everywhere. Homes and yards, rivers and lakes of the Coeur d'Alene drainage system remain contaminated by 100 years of mining activity. The integrity of the several existing repository areas of Mullan, Big Creek, Page and the latest one being planned sandwiched between Interstate 90 and a county road is situated at the National Historic Landmark, the Old Mission of the Sacred Heart is vigorously opposed by residents of the Basin. EPA and IDEQ are now proposing more repositories in the Silver Valley.
The bike trail running along the Union Pacific right-of-way beckons recreationalists to follow it along the lake, river and into wetlands where the swans die.
Sadder still, responsible agencies have made no concerted effort to help the children in the Basin. This is a shame.
Sincerely,
SVCRC Board of Directors
Jerry Miller, President
The Center for Health, Environment & Justice and 40 groups in 23 states released a major new report, Superfund: In The Eye of the Storm on March 19th which reveals corporate bailouts and climate change-related hurricanes, tornadoes and flooding are damaging toxic waste sites and burdening the financially ailing Federal Superfund. CHEJ and groups are holding media events and delivering letters to Members of Congress in support of President Obama and Congress's recent actions to refinance Superfund by restoring polluter pays fees. Groups are also delivering a pizza to key Senators and House Representatives to highlight the low cost of corporate Superfund fees. One of the fees, the Corporate Environmental Income Tax paid by companies with $2 million or more in profits, was only $12 on every $10,000 in profits-the price of a large, cheese pizza.
Click here for Report.
Click here for national News Release.
Click here for national Media Calendar of Events.
For more information, please contact Moira Bulloch, CHEJ at 703-237-2249 ext. 19 or mbulloch@chej.org.
WE at SVCRC are asking people to call 1-877-922-4264, a toll free number the Obama administration established as a grassroots effort to keep in touch with communities and on-the-ground groups. Briefly explain the situation, (this is how Idaho is and it is unacceptable) how and people here need his intervention.
Five generations of families are living with chronic lead poisoning health problems. NO ONE but SVCRC, a 23 year old non-profit is doing anything about it!
30 March, 2009: Superfund: In the Eye of the Storm
10 March, 2009: For years the state of Idaho and region have known about the health damages related to the heavy metal mine waste pollution in the Silver Valley.
On Tuesday, SVCRC staff and board members spent the morning trying to find out how to apply for stimulus funding from the billion dollars given to Idaho that Governor Otter called for project requests.
We learned mid day that the process to submit proposals was closed more than a week earlier. When we tried to talk with Duwayne Hammond, Jr., a former tax commissioner, and now in charge of this project at the Department of Finance, he abruptly ended the call by hanging up on us when we asked a probing question.
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Hi Friends,
Some of you may know that I've been doing some work for a small, grass-roots organization located in northern Idaho that has been working for 20 years on the clean up of the largest lead contamination site in the country. With very little resources, they have been able to push the clean up through while creating jobs for unemployed local miners. Their primary organizer, life-long Silver Valley resident Barbara Miller, has been awarded national recognition by the Ford Foundation for her work. Continue reading...
