Guest Author: Mary Rehnborg, Institutional Controls Program Manager for Panhandle Health District
Summertime recreation is one of the best parts of living in our area. Swimming, boating, camping, and other outdoor activities are great ways to make lifelong memories with your friends and family. While our region looks like a pristine, beautiful place to recreate, some areas are impacted by the historical mining activities that occurred in the Coeur d’ Alene basin.
North Idaho is home to one of the largest lead contaminated Superfund Sites in the nation, known as the Bunker Hill Mining and Metallurgical Complex Superfund Site that was listed on the National Priorities List in 1983. Stretching from the Idaho/Montana Boarder, the Site includes the Silver Valley region, the South Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River and many of its side tributaries, the main Coeur d’Alene River, all the chain lakes in the Lower Coeur d’Alene River Basin, Coeur d’Alene Lake, and the Spokane River. Historic mining, milling, and smelting activities caused the spread of heavy metal mining related contamination throughout approximately 1,500 square miles downstream to the confluence of the Spokane River into the Columbia River.
To date, over 7,000 properties have been cleaned up to relocate and cap these contaminated soils in the Silver Valley and remediation work is ongoing. Areas along waterbodies and in floodplains are especially difficult to address due to the extent and depth of the contamination. While heavy metal exposure (e.g., Pb, As, Cd, Zn, etc.) remains an issue, there are certain steps you can take to protect you and your family. These steps include:
- Sit at picnic tables, on blankets, or in heavily vegetated areas to avoid getting contaminated sand and sediments on your clothes, body, and other items
- Wash your hands with soap and clean water before eating
- Remove dirt from blankets, towels, tents, toys, pets, and equipment BEFORE leaving the areas within the Superfund boundary
- Bring water for drinking, cooking, and washing. Do Not use water from the river or lakes – even if it is filtered
- Soil and dust tracked home from recreational activities become an exposure source. Keep yourself and belongings clean.
Lead (Pb) levels in blood tend to peak in late summer/early fall due to these increased exposures. Risk is particularly high in contaminated areas along the riverbanks of the South Fork and the main Coeur d’Alene River, and around old mine and mill sites. Hotter, drier and dustier conditions, which are common in late summer, can also increase risk.
To ensure you are protecting yourself and your family, Panhandle Health District (PHD) in Kellogg offers free blood lead testing. Lead exposure often happens with no obvious side effects, so blood lead testing is the only way to determine exposures. Knowing your blood-lead level is an important first step to reducing further exposure.
PHD’s Lead Health Intervention Program will host its annual Lead Screening event August 12-17, 2024, at the Shoshone Medical Center’s Outreach Building, 9 Country Club Lane, Pinehurst, Idaho 83850. Testing will be available Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m., and Saturday from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. All members of the community are welcome. Children ages six months to six years that live within the Bunker Hill Superfund Site will receive a $50 incentive following their testing. The test is a simple finger poke. The whole process usually takes about 15 to 20 minutes and if the blood-lead level is elevated, staff will perform a confirmatory venous draw. In addition, Panhandle Health District offers free blood lead testing all year for anyone living, working or recreating within the Bunker Hill Superfund site – call 208-783-0707.
