Resolution
of the Sierra Club
in
opposing S. 585, and in support of
a comprehensive clean-up of the Coeur d'Alene-Spokane River
ecosystem
- Whereas
mining companies have dumped over 70 million tons of
wastes containing lead, arsenic, cadmium, zinc, and other
heavy metals into the Coeur d'Alene River starting in
1884;
- Whereas
running water has carried the pollution downstream,
covering wetlands with 4 to 40 feet of toxic sediments,
covering the bottom of Lake Coeur d'Alene (Idaho's second
largest lake) with 70 million tons of toxic sediments,
and contaminating the beaches and sediments of the
Spokane River;
- Whereas
the Coeur d'Alene National Forest is the most damaged of
all 156 National Forests, with average logging road
densities exceeding 11 road miles per square mile of
forest;
- Whereas
floods from the cutover forests sweep across toxic flood
plains, picking up the mine waste, and carrying millions
of pounds of lead into Lake Coeur d'Alene;
- Whereas
the mining pollution does not stop at the Idaho state
line, and continues into Washington state where it has
caused the Spokane River to contain the highest levels of
heavy metals in that state;
- Whereas
heavy metals in the amounts polluting this river
ecosystem in both Idaho and Washington are toxic, have
poisoned children, killed thousands of swans and other
water fowl, and devastated aquatic life, and these
problems continue;
- Whereas
the shorelines of the Coeur d'Alene River and upper
Spokane River are now posted to warn people of the
dangers and risks of the heavy metals, underscoring the
public health concerns about the mining
pollution;
- Whereas
the mining companies continued dumping despite opposition
by farmers and other citizens that started a century
ago;
- Whereas
the mining companies continued dumping despite scientific
studies in the early 1930s that documented the Coeur
d'Alene river was nearly devoid of life, documented that
Lake Coeur d'Alene was saturated with lead, and
recommended an end to the dumping of mine wastes into the
river;
- Whereas
the state of Idaho knew of this opposition and these
scientific studies and took no action to stop the
pollution of these waters for a century;
- Whereas
Idaho, acting as a Trustee under Superfund law, settled
with mining companies for environmental damages in 1986
for $4.5 million (on a Superfund clean-up now estimated
at $500 million to $3 billion) after funding for the
Attorney General's lawsuit to recover damages from the
mining companies vanished in the Idaho
legislature;
- Whereas
Idaho succeeded in appointing Robie Russell, an Idahoan,
to head EPA's Region X during the late 1980s, who then
used his position to actively protect mining companies by
blocking EPA's Superfund clean-up and thereby endangering
public health while allowing the companies to shift and
hide assets to avoid cleanup costs;
- Whereas
Idaho has pressured the U.S. Forest Service for decades
to overcut the Coeur d'Alene National Forest and
continues to advocate logging of this heavily damaged
forest, the source of the toxic floods carrying pollution
into Washington;
- Whereas
Idaho has repeatedly attempted to weaken national
Superfund law by transferring authority from the federal
to state government, thereby protecting mining companies
from cleanup liabilities and limiting Idaho's exposure
for its share of future cleanup costs under current
Superfund law;
- Whereas
Idaho succeeded in blocking a nationally popular
"brownsfield" law in 2000 in order to advance the Idaho
position on the Coeur d'Alene pollution;
- Whereas
Idaho requested an investigation by the EPA Ombudsman
that has resulted in a quid pro quo in which the
ombudsman office discredits the EPA cleanup effort in
exchange for Idaho support for Congressional
reauthorization of the ombudsman's office and expansion
of authority over EPA;
- Whereas
Idaho has conducted a series of public hearings that have
targeted EPA personnel attempting to develop clean-up
proposals consistent with national Superfund
law;
- Whereas
Idaho has enacted a state law that would effectively
transfer authority for the clean-up from EPA to Idaho,
and now seeks the necessary reciprocal federal
law;
- Whereas
S. 585 is part of a reciprocal process necessary to
transfer cleanup authority from EPA to Idaho;
- Whereas
S. 585 is prejudiced against Washington State, the
downstream recipient of Idaho's pollution, by limiting
Washington's authority in clean-up decisions affecting
its waters and citizens; and
- Whereas
S. 585 would continue Idaho's attempt to weaken Superfund
law, and transfer clean-up liability from the polluter to
the general taxpayer.
Therefore,
be it resolved that the Sierra Club
- opposes
S. 585,
- supports
a comprehensive Superfund clean-up of the Coeur
d'Alene-Spokane River system that retains EPA authority
for the cleanup consistent with Superfund law,
and
- recognizes
Washington State as co-equal with Idaho in decisions
pertaining to the toxic mine waste polluting the river
system flowing through both states.
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