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Brownfields 1997 Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet
Panhandle Health District, ID
EPA Brownfields Initiative
EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states,
communities, and other stakeholders to work together to
prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse
brownfields. A brownfield site is real property, the
expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be
complicated by the presence or potential presence of a
hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. On
January 11, 2002, President George W. Bush signed into
law the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields
Revitalization Act. Under the Brownfields Law, EPA
provides financial assistance to eligible applicants
through four competitive grant programs: assessment
grants, revolving loan fund grants, cleanup grants, and
job training grants. Additionally, funding support is
provided to state and tribal response programs through a
separate mechanism.
Background
EPA Region 10 selected Silver Valley, Idaho for a
Regional Brownfields Pilot. The Silver Valley was home
to one of the largest mining operations in the country
before the smelters closed in 1981. The Silver Valley
area includes one of the largest Superfund sites in the
nation. The towns of Kellogg, Pinehurst, Smelterville,
and Wardner, which together have a population of 7,550,
are within the boundary of the 21 square mile Bunker
Hill Superfund site. Heavy metals contamination is
widespread in soils, streams, and groundwater. Past
emissions have severely harmed vegetation, and mill
tailings have kept much of the slopes and valley floor
defoliated. Contamination concerns and mine layoffs
have negatively affected property values and the
employment rate in the Valley, although both appear to
have stabilized and have shown promising
improvements. The $210 million cleanup of the site is
underway and progressing. This brownfields cooperative
agreement will assist the entire Silver Valley in
overcoming the environmental stigma associated with
redevelopment of the area.
Pilot Snapshot
Date of Announcement: 09/01/1996
Amount: $98,000
Profile: The Pilot targets a 21-square mile site
encompassing a former mine, where contamination
from heavy metals is present in soil, streams, and
groundwater.
Contacts
For further information, including specific grant
contacts, additional grant information, brownfields
news and events, and publications and links, visit the
EPA Brownfields Web site
(http ://www .epa.gov/brownfields).
EPA Region 10 Brownfields Team
(206)553-7299
EPA Region 10 Brownfields Web site
(http://yosemite.epa.gov/R10/CLEANUP.NSF/
sites/bf)
Grant Recipient: Panhandle Health District, ID
(208)783-0707
Objectives
The focus of the Panhandle Health District's
brownfields' effort is to plan for and assist in supporting
new business in the Valley. Economic development
planning has been stymied by industry misconceptions,
ignorance of environmental law, and fear of liability.
Even after Federal cleanup, economic rebirth will not
occur until the stigma of environmental contamination is
removed. The governments of the four towns affected
by the Superfund site as well as other towns in the
Valley will be cooperating with the county, regional
health authority, and local, State, and Federal economic
development agencies to address the Valley's problems
and demonstrate the merits and viability of new
business growth in the area.
Activities
The Pilot is:
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA 500-F-97-062
May 97

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•	Preparing a business development guide that
provides direction and support for the
appropriate redevelopment of affected
brownfields property in the Silver Valley;
•	Producing a video educating viewers about
brownfields issues and on the advantages of
establishing a business in Silver Valley;
•	Developing a Web Page about the Silver Valley
Pilot for the Internet; and
•	Conducting an economic summit conference to
show how liability and contamination are no
longer major barriers to redevelopment of the
area. The conference will target private
enterprise, lending institutions, regional and
State government, economic development
organizations, and business recruiters and brokers.
Experience with the Panhandle Health District Pilot has
been a catalyst for related activities including the
following.
•	The Washington Water Power Company spent
$60,000 to advertise and promote local,
underutilized industrial sites. Washington Water
Power plans to bring new jobs to redeveloped
Silver Valley brownfields sites.
The information presented in this fact sheet comes from
the grant proposal; EPA cannot attest to the accuracy of
this information. The cooperative agreement for the
grant has not yet been negotiated. Therefore, activities
described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
Solid Waste
EPA 500-F-97-062
May 97

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