Celebrating 10 Years of Returning
Superfund Sites to Beneficial Use
ŠERA
REGION 10
Success Story
Bunker Hill:
Shoshone
Countv. Idaho
Pictured: Mine tailings at the Bunker Hill site prior to
remediation. Source: EPA
Pictured: Reforested mountainside at the Bunker Hill site.
Source: EPA
Collaboration between EPA and local communities supported
redevelopment at the Bunker Hill Superfund site. The Superfund
Redevelopment Initiative (SRI) awarded the City of Kellogg community
group, Panhandle Health District (PHD), a Pilot grant in 2001 that they
used to develop and maintain a coordinated, valley-wide approach to
cleanup and reuse. This approach, which includes the provision of site
investigation data to developers for their environmental due diligence and
financing, has allowed for the successful redevelopment of significant
portions of the site.
"We developed here because of the
Superfund site. The cooperation and
support of the EPA, State of Idaho, and
Panhandle Health District were
invaluable to getting our project off the
ground." - Terry Turnbow of Silver
Mountain Resort
"The funding for development was a
breeze. The local lenders were very
willing, as long as the project was
economically viable and within the ICP
guidelines." - Ken Shueman, owner of
Motel 8 located on the Bunker Hill
The Bunker Hill Superfund Site was placed on the National Priorities
List in 1983. More than a century of mine tailings deposited throughout
the valley floor and toxic emissions from smelting activities resulted in
widespread metals contamination in the Coeur d'Alene River Basin. The
site includes the 21-square mile area known as the Bunker Hill Box,
which was EPA's initial area of focus for Superfund cleanup actions.
The City of Kellogg is located in the Bunker Hill Box. In the Bunker Hill Box, EPA has cleaned up more than
3,800 residential properties, demolished 200 contaminated structures, and remediated contaminated soils, gulches
and stream channels. EPA also re-vegetated over 200 acres of hillsides that now prevent contaminated soils from
moving down into residential areas and surface waters. Cleanup is on-going.
Beginning in 1987, the City of Kellogg began to pursue redevelopment opportunities at cleaned up portions of the
site. But the processes for obtaining liability protection for developers were complex and often lengthy. In an effort
to facilitate the process, PHD, in partnership with federal and local agencies, created the Institutional Control
Program (ICP). The ICP works through existing local administrative structures and programs. Tailored to have the
flexibility to meet the needs of the community and the particular challenges of the Bunker Hill site, the ICP
succeeded in instilling faith in local lenders to fund redevelopment projects. The Bunker Hill Superfund site is now
home to the Silver Mountain Resort, a mixed residential neighborhood and commercial development and 18-hole
golf course; the Silver Valley Business Center, which supports industrial and commercial development; and light
manufacturing, outdoor recreation, telecommunications, workforce training, environmental remediation businesses.
For more information, please contact Melissa Friedland at friedland.melissa@epa.gov or Frank Avvisato at
avvisato.frank@epa.gov
Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation
Superfund Redevelopment Initiative
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