Ninemile Creek Watershed: Cleanup and Source Control Work to Begin

EPA Press Release:

Ninemile Creek Watershed: Cleanup and Source Control Work to Begin

Environmental cleanup is about to get started high up in the remote area of the Ninemile Creek watershed. The CDA Work Trust will build a “waste consolidation area” or WCA there. This work will support next year’s cleanup of the Interstate-Callahan Mine site. Contaminated materials from that cleanup will be put in the WCA. In future years, waste from cleanups of other nearby mine sites will also go into the WCA.

This work represents a milestone in the overall Coeur d’Alene Basin Cleanup Project:  the start of major “source control” efforts. This work will help control chief sources of heavy metals, including lead and zinc. Contaminated material like soil and mine tailings will be taken from the old mine sites that occupy a wide area and put in the WCA, a much smaller, isolated location.

Since the work is in an unpopulated area, it is not expected to be disruptive. At times, roads in remote areas will be closed, except for emergency access. During the cleanup, there will be restrictions on recreating in specific areas. Signs will be posted.

More information about this work

Coeur d’Alene Basin Cleanup Project Website

Visit the Coeur d'Alene Basin Cleanup Facebook Page to share your thoughts and ideas about the cleanup

For questions or concerns about this work, please contact:
Dan Meyer, CDA Work Trust
208-783-0222