Record Floods Contaminate Lake
Recent floods moved massive amounts of lead downstream into Lake Coeur d'Alene
Lead-poisoned swan
The January flood event this winter clearly shows why we need a thorough cleanup of the Coeur d'Alene Basin.
As a recent story in the Spokesman-Review explains, the Jan 18 floods caused the highest volume of lead to wash into Lake Coeur d'Alene since the floods of 1996—352,000 pounds of toxic lead.
It's timely, in a way. We needed a reminder—while the Environmental Protection Agency mulls over its upper basin cleanup plan—why it's important not to just let things be in the Coeur d'Alene Basin—upstream or downstream.
When this much lead, the legacy of a 100 years of mining in the Silver Valley, is washing up on the shores of the Coeur d'Alene River and beaches of Lake Coeur d'Alene, it underscores the need to continue the Superfund cleanup. Idaho's children should be able to play on these shores and beaches without worrying about lead-contaminated soils and sand.
Unfortunately, some of Idaho's lawmakers are concerned that the EPA is overreaching in its efforts to clean up toxic mining waste in the basin. ICL contends that the real issue is the continuing threat of heavy metal contamination that flows downstream every time it rains.
If cleanup is neglected, everyone downstream is at risk, including the tundra swans that every year make their last touchdown in the Chain Lakes of the lower basin, where they ingest enough lead to kill them.
