A St. Maries log yard leaking creosote into the nearby St. Joe River should be cleaned up by turning it into a federal Superfund project is not the best solution, Idaho’s congressional delegation told Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christine Todd. The tribe is concerned creosote is pouring into the surface waters on its reservation and little is being done about it. The Idaho Republicans, in a letter March 15, asked Whitman not to place the site on the National Priorities List and to allow the responsible parties to clean it up. That would preserve public health, save money and protect the struggling timber town from the stigma of a Superfund listing, wrote Sens. Larry Craig and Michael Crapo and Rep. Butch Otter. The city and current operator, Carney Products Ltd., have already spent several hundred thousand dollars to halt the creosote from reaching the river.
Sen. Patti Anne Lodge, R-Huston, joined her Senate Health and Welfare Committee colleagues March 16 in voting unanimously to send legislation on a commission to manage mining waste cleanup dollars in the Coeur d’Alene River Basin. Lodge’s husband, U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge, is presiding over an ongoing trial in Boise that pits three mining companies against the federal government and the tribe which seeks damages in the mine pollution case. Lodge sought an attorney general’s opinion on whether she would face a conflict of interest during a Senate floor vote. She said the measure has such strong Senate support her vote likely would have little bearing on the outcome. The commission would establish a separate financing authority and make long-term basin management decisions. It would collect and manage private or government money for the cleanup. But, it would likely be formed only if the parties in the federal trial reach an out-of-court cash settlement that many hope would stave off a basinwide Superfund listing. Panhandle business interests support the bill, saving a listing could tarnish the area’s image and harm tourism and real estate industries.
