F h -v.- ' F . —\ -| 4% United States \ ti&k f~ -'-4E21 Environmental Protection Agency Updates Coeur d'Alene River Basin Cleanup August2014 L A f Look inside for News on > Repositories > Remedy Protection > Listening to the Community > Roads > Coloring Contest > And so much more... V J Cleaning Up Ninemile: Answering Your Questions Got questions about the environmental work underway high up in Ninemile Canyon? A new fact sheet is designed to answer them. Go to the link below for facts about the cleanup and Q&A's. You will also find maps showing cleanup areas and access changes for the East Fork of Ninemile Creek. Workers are buildi ng a Waste Consolidation Area there. The WCA will take in waste from many mine cleanups in the area. Those sites are releasing high concentrations of dissolved zinc and other metals like lead into the stream and groundwater. Moving contaminated waste from several sites into one smaller, managed location helps keep it from moving downstream. This work marks the start of major efforts in the Basin to control sources of heavy metals. The work protects the environment and people's health. Contact: Tracy Chellis, 206-553-6326, 800-424-4372 ext. 6326 or chellis,tracy@epa.2;ov What Sites wiJI Get Cleaned Up in Ninemile? Here's a map of sites in Ninemile Basin that will get cleaned up in the future. Contaminated waste from most of these sites is expected to go into the WCA. (One exception is the Dayrock tailings impoundment/SVNRT, which would be closed in place; there are no plans to move material from this site to the WCA.) Taking material from lots of places and putting it into one smaller, managed location helps us control sources of contamination. Fact Sheet and Answers about Ninemile: http://go.usa.gov/PV6m ------- Basin Bulletin www. epa.gov/r 10earth/bunkerhill August 2014 Interstate Callahan Cleanup Now in Progress Cleanup at the Interstate Callahan mine rock dumps has begun. Workers are excavating and hauling mine waste to the WCA. Over two years, the mine waste from the land and creek will be removed. Then the site will be restored to conditions similar to upstream areas. The Interstate-Callahan mine was one of the largest producers of ore in the Ninemile Creek watershed. Over its life, the mine produced about 1.4 million tons of ore. That ore contained about 2 million ounces of silver, 100 million pounds of lead, and 300 million pounds of zinc (Wallace District Mining Museum, 2011). The IC Rock Dumps (about 18 acres in size) are located in the upper reaches of the drainage. Two sites there will be cleaned up: the Interstate-Callahan Mine Rock Dumps and the Interstate-Callahan Lower Rock Dumps. Contact: Tracy Chellis, 800-424-4372 ext. 6326, 206-553-6326 or chellis.tracy@epa.gov Next Basin Commission Meeting Basin Environmental Improvement Project Commission November 12,2014, Spokane Valley Details to come: www.basincommission.com Lower Burke Canyon Repository Work Begins Soon Late summer or early fall is the latest estimate for the start of construction on the Lower Burke Canyon Repository. The facility will be near Woodland Park. There will be work trucks in the area, just north of the residential area. Drivers will be required to follow safety practices, including safe speed limits, operation only during daylight, covering of loads, and dust and noise control. You may see clearing and grading activities, culverts being laid, removal of pipes and equipment already on site, material deliveries, fencing to control access, and other construction activity. The workers will be preparing the area to receive waste from cleanup work up-canyon. Limited waste from the Institutional Controls Program in the basin could also be disposed of there in the future. Contact: Bill Adams, 800-424-4372 ext. 2806,206-553-2806 or adams.bill@epa.gov Visit: http://go.usa.gov/Tffy ' BEIPC 2- ------- Basin Bulletin www.epa.gov/rlOearXh/bunkerhiH August 2014 Big Creek Repository Annex Sees Progress The existing Big Creek Repository is getting full. Plans are in the works to build an add-on. The CDA Trust has acquired two properties just across the creek from the repository. The annex will be developed on about 9.5 acres, directly west of the existing decon-station. No work has been started on the site yet. The annex is being designed now. Work will start this fall on a new small access bridge and relocation of some utilities owned by the nearby golf course. Remaining development work will be performed in 2015. The annex will increase the amount of space available to store waste removed from cleanup areas. The facilities already in place at the repository - the wash off area, the office, the entrance — will also serve the annex. The annex will, for the most part, not be visible from the golf course. Contact: Bill Adams, 800-424-4372 ext. 2806,206-553-2806 or adams.bill@epa.gov River Bank and Beach Project Starts this FalU This fall, construction will begin on a river bank and beach remediation pilot project at the Kahnderosa RV Park. EPA will isolate and stabilize the eroding river bank using native plants. The plants will provide fish and wildlife habitat and other ecosystem benefits. River footpaths will reduce future damage to the protected bank. The project will limit human and wildlife exposure to heavy metals. The local community helped EPA select this project. Contact: Kim Piestbo, 800-424-4372 ext. 0239, 206-553-0239 or prestbo.kirn@epa.gov Treatment Plant Upgrade, Groundwater Collection System in Design The EPA continues to work on designs for a groundwater collection system near Kellogg. The system will be installed between the north side of the CIA (Central Impoundment Area) and the South Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River. It will collect contaminated groundwater then pipe it to the treatment plant. The treatment plant will get some upgrades so it can handle this groundwater in addition to the acid mine drainage it currently treats for the Bunker Hill Mine. EPA is designing the collection system and the treatment plant upgrade at the same time. That way, EPA can ensure that treatment of both groundwater and mine water can be synchronized, cost effective and protect the water in the South Fork. Some construction may start later in 2015. Contact: Kim Prestbo, 800-424-4372 ext. 0239,206-553-0239 or )restbo.kim@ epa.gov -3 ------- Basin Bulletin www. epa.gov/r 10earth/bunkerhill August 2014 Paved Roads Program Rolls Along Local jurisdictions will resurface at least 17 miles of roads in the Basin this year as part of EPA and DEQj Paved Roads Program. Engineers and contractors are doing the hard work of fixing the roads and creating lasting repairs. The repaired road surfaces act as barriers to underlying contamination. Without the barrier, contaminated dirt can be tracked around the community. The work protects people's health and private and commercial property. Of course, it also provides nice roads to drive on. Local jurisdictions set priorities within the overall strategy, manage the contracts, and are responsible for maintaining the roads. The program will continue for several more years. Eight miles of road surface were remediated last year. Contact: Craig Cameron, 509-376-8664 or cameron. craig@ epa.gov Unpaved Road Cleanups Soon Complete The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, working with local road jurisdictions, will complete the Public Unpaved (Gravel) Road remediation program this field season. Settlement monies provided by the EPA fund the project. Two IDEQ_contractors will complete work on the 22 remaining contaminated roads from Harrison to Mullan. The work includes construction of six-inch thick caps and necessary drainage. All of the remediated roads will receive an application of dust abatement materials. Clean surfaces on gravel roads lower the health risks and reduce the spread of contamination. This work completes the program begun in 2011 with sampling for heavy metal contamination of all public unpaved road surfaces in the Basin. Contact: Terry Harwood, 208-783-2528 or terry.harwood@deq.idaho.gov \ Get Cleanup News Fast; Visit us on Facebook! Visit our Facebook page for updates on the cleanup. We make two or three posts a week. rj Check it out! Visit: www.facebook.com/CDAbasin Contact: Andrea Lindsay, 800-424-4372 ext. 1896,206-553-1896, ¦ 3 or lindsay.andrea@epa.gov v J 4- ------- Basin Bulletin WWW.epa.gov/r10earth/bunkerhill August2014 Keeping Cleaned Up Areas Clean: Remedy Protection Work Ongoing in Local Communities Crews are busy this summer doing work designed to protect earlier cleanups around the Silver Valley. Remedy protection is about protecting cleaned up areas in the community from recontamination. A remedy is the action taken to protect human and environmental health. The upgrades to local infrastructure help protect private and public property from flooding and stormwater runoff damage. The overall effort is collaborative. Local jurisdictions are especially involved with planning and public outreach. Local jurisdictions will maintain the installed structures so they continue to provide flood protection in the future. A big thank you to the local jurisdictions, mayors, work crews, property owners, impacted businesses, and so many others. We know the work sometimes causes inconvenience for residents. It can be noisy, dusty, and disruptive. Thank you for your cooperation and your patience. * Shields Gulch Crews started work last year to help protect past cleanup work in this area and are almost finished. Workers built a new creek channel behind Silver Hills Elementary next to 1-90. They also replaced culverts under some roads. The work will help keep Shields Creek within its banks during floods. The goal is to help prevent sediments from washing onto clean properties and causing re-contamination. Crews also remediated the old tennis court in back of the school. Work on school grounds took place when school was not in session. Last year, workers installed a fence, did some excavation for the new channel, completed a bridge cleanout and more. The Coeur dAlene Trust, DEOj and EPA coordinate this and other remedy protection projects with local jurisdictions and property owners. This project is funded by settlement money. Contact: Anne McCauley, 800-424-4372 ext. 4689,206-553-4689 or mccauley.anne@epa.gov Meyer Creek Construction to protect completed cleanup work in Osburn began this summer. The project is designed to reroute Meyer Creek in an underground pipe system located in the public right-of-way through the city. The new system has a larger capacity than the existing pipe to help prevent recontamination of cleaned up properties. Workers will install 3,200 lineal feet of piping, eleven manholes and two new inlet structures. They are also modifying existing utility lines (i.e., water, sanitary sewer, gas, etc). Work should be complete before winter. Contact: Anne McCauley, 800-424-4372 ext. 4689, 206-553-4689 or mccauley.anne@epa.gov Continued -5 ------- Basin Bulletin www. epa.gov/r 10earth/bunkerhill August 2014 Keeping Cleaned Up Areas Clean: Remedy Protection * continued Work Ongoing in Local Communities Kellogg's Portland Road IDEQhas completed design work to determine how to address 'overland flow' along upper Portland Road and nearby steep hillsides in Kellogg. When water flows over the land here, it can leave contaminated sediments behind. The agency designed the work to reduce the potential for people to be exposed to contaminants in the long term. Contact: Terry Harwood, 208-783-5781 or terry.harwood@ deq.idaho.gov Little Pine Creek DEQ_will begin work this fall on upgrades to Little Pine Creek in Pinehurst. Work would affect the creek along D Street, a short distance into the south end of Pinehurst Golf Course, and through the Shoshone County Park. The project will reduce overtopping of the banks during high water and the risk of recontamination. Some channel excavation will occur. Culverts and bridges that are too small will be reconfigured and replaced. Also, crews will armor portions of the channel in the residential areas where it is very confined. Contact: Terry Harwood, 208-783-5781 or terry, harwood@deq.idaho.gov We're Listening... Local People Help Shape EPA Community Involvement C \ Listening to Local People Here are just a few snippets of what we heard recently from people in the basin. The input is helping us build EPA's new community involvement plan. Watch for it soon! > Honor citizen input; don't diminish or trivialize any stakeholder. > Make sure people know you really do care. > Take the time to build personal relationships. > Keep inviting people to participate. > Keep the information simple. > Remind people why cleanup activities are needed. v In May, the cleanup's community involvement team met with local people throughout the Coeur d'Alene Basin. The goal was to learn how people want to be informed about and involved in the cleanup. We heard so many insightful comments and suggestions (see the side box =>). Now we are preparing a community involvement plan. Watch for its release later this summer. A big thank you to everyone who provided suggestions! Contact: Andrea Lindsay, lindsay.andrea@epa.gov 0)800-424-4372 ext. 1896 or 206-553-1896 6- ------- Basin Bulletin www.epa.gov/rlOearXh/bunkerhiH August 2014 Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes Celebrates Ten Years Happy Birthday! The Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes reached a new milepost this summer: the ten year mark. The Historic Silver Valley Chamber of Commerce hosted an event recently to celebrate. The 72-mile trail was created as part of EPA's cleanup. It follows an old rail line, where high levels of metals contamination once posed a risk to people's health. EPA's Ed Moreen, who was involved in the trail since the beginning, was an invited speaker. He closed his remarks with, "Here's to the Trail of The Coeur d'Alenes, celebrating prosperity, economic vitality and ushering in a brighter, more sustainable future in the Silver Valley." Here! Here! Contact: Ed Moreen, 208-664-4588 or moreen.ed@epa.gov Visit: http://go .usa.gov/p b 7 Qt Photo courtesy of Colleen Rosson (permission provided) Comings and Goings Welcome Back, Debra Sherbina A warm welcome back to EPA's Debra Sherbina. Deb served as a community involvement coordinator for the cleanup in past years. She is excited to be back on the site. She says, "I look forward to working on this important project again. I have a great deal of respect for this community. The local people care so much about this area and stay engaged in cleanup issues. It's rewarding work." Deb will join the outreach team of Andrea Lindsay (EPA), Rene Gilbert (EPA), and Denna Grangaard (DEQ). Contact: Debra Sherbina, 800-424-4372 ext. 0247,206-553-0247 or sherbina.debra@epa.gov Welcome Andy Hetkey, Panhandle Health District Welcome, Andy Helkey! Andy serves as the new manager of PHD's Institutional Controls Program and lead health intervention program. Andy was formerly the onsite wastewater and drinking water Program Manager for North Central Health District and has worked for the State of Idaho for over nine years. He fills behind Jerry Cobb. Contact: Andy Helkey, 208-783-0707 or ahelkev@phdl .idaho.gov. Thanks, Best Wishes to Jerry Cobb, Panhandle Health District As of July, it's no longer business as usual in the Silver Valley. Jerry Cobb, long-time manager of the Panhandle Health District's lead health program and Institutional Controls Program, is retiring. "I can think of few people who've made more of a contribution to the cleanup than Jerry Cobb," says Bill Adams, EPA's team leader. "He has shown an unwavering commitment to the public health, environmental health, and economic health of this community." A big, warm thank you, Jerry, for all that you've done for so many years. Best wishes! -7 ------- Basin Bulletin www. epa.gov/r 10earth/bunkerhill August 2014 Congratulations to Coloring Contest Winners! A big congratulations to winners of the Riley and Rita Coloring Contest: Cody, Kierra, Lily, and Ellie! DEQjran the coloring contest for ages 4 to 8. Its aim was to increase participation in PHD's blood lead screening program, raise awareness of the Play Clean website, and educate the public about health tips to reduce lead exposure. For More Information: Contact: Denna Grangaard, 208-659-1383 or denna.grangaard@deq.idaho.g;ov Visit the Play Clean Website: http:// go.usa.gov/PvPh t Cody Winners won either a water park pass or a pool punch card and pizza. Ellie Kierra T RILEY AND HIS FAMILY SAY: 1§ Wash hands before eating H Eat on a clean table H Wash play-clothes Leave dirt outside # Stay on the bike trail and read health signs H http://go.usa.gov/PvPh 8- ------- Basin Bulletin www.epa.gov/rlOearXh/bunkerhiH August 2014 Students Visit Basin, Take Biological Samples University of Georgia students visited the Coeur d'Alene Basin recently. They came to learn about contamination issues and biological monitoring of cleanup. The students are on an eight-week interdisciplinary field trip across vast portions of the south and western U.S. During their visit, EPA's Bill Adams provided an overvi ew of the site and its cleanup. Dan Meyer with the Coeur d Alene Work Trust gave details about the cleanup in the Ninemile Creek area. The US Fish and Wildlife Service gave a demonstration of monitoring and helped students collect stream water and biological samples for their own assessment. The students were off to Glacier Park, Yellowstone, and the Tetons before heading home. Safe travels, students! (Photo courtesy of US Fish & Wildlife Service) f ' Opportunities to Get Involved Basin Environmental Improvement Project Commission (BEIPC) Executive Director: Terry Harwood, 208-783-2528 www.basincommission.com Citizens Coordinating Council (CCC) Chair: Jerry Boyd, 509-455-6000s www.basincommission.com/ccc.asp S 4 f \ The Basin Bulletin is published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency three times a year.The Basin Bulletin offers updates on the Superfund cleanup in the Coeur d'Alene Basin. For mailing list changes, to send comments on this newsletter, contact the editors or submit articles for consideration, call Andrea Lindsay as noted. Mention of trade names, products or services does not convey, and should not be interpreted as conveying, official EPA approval, endorsement or recommendation. v > ( \ Alternative formats are available. For reasonable accommodation, please call Andrea Lindsay at 206-553-1896 M TTY users, please call the Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339. Ask for Andrea Lindsay at the number listed above. \ J EPA Community Involvement Contacts Andrea Lindsay (3) 1-800-424-4372 ext. 1896 % iiindsay.andrea@epa.gov Debra Sherbina (3) 1-800-424-4372 ext. 0247'*% sherbina.debra@epa.gov -9 ------- 4% United States Environmental Protection tl mm Agency Region 10 1200 Sixth Avenue, Suite 900, ETPA-202-4 Seattle, Washington 98101-3140 August 2014 r \ In This Issue... > Cleaning Up Ninemile > Repository Updates > Keeping Cleaned-up Areas Clean > Local Roads Cleanups > Coloring Contest Winners > Hello and Goodbye > And much, much more! V J Printed on 100% recycled paper Learn More Online about the Coeur d'Alene Basin Cleanup www.epa.gov/rl Oearth/bunkerhill 10- ------- |