protection of the Spokane River, the state told EPA on Thursday. Washington's concurrence with EPA's Superfund cleanup came in a letter delivered to John Iani, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's regional administrator in Seattle.
The plan is a "critical first step" in restoring the environment of the Coeur d'Alene Basin, said Ecology Director Tom Fitzsimmons in his letter.
The EPA is waiting for a similar concurrence letter from Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne before it releases the 550-page record of decision that will guide cleanup work for decades.
Kempthorne's office is still working on Idaho's letter, said press secretary Marc Snider.
Late Thursday, Idaho's congressional delegation hadn't seen a final draft of the letter from Boise, said Lindsay Nothern, a spokesman for Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho.
"We heard they are fine-tuning something, but that was two days ago," Nothern said.
Washington is asking EPA to move quickly to clean up beaches on the Spokane River and remove mine sediments behind Upriver Dam.
EPA's record of decision says the beaches will be included because of human health hazards from heavy metals that have washed into the river from Idaho, Goldstein said.
It's not yet clear where the $10 million to clean up the Spokane River will come from, she said.
The national Superfund account that has paid for most of the Silver Valley cleanup is rapidly dwindling. Congress in 1995 failed to reauthorize a tax on corporations to pay for cleanups where the polluters are defunct or bankrupt.
Idaho and Washington politicians have also said they'll seek money from Congress outside the Superfund account.
Washington state will cooperate with the new Basin Environmental Improvement Commission, a five-member body with one Washington representative that will help guide the cleanup, Fitzsimmons said.
However, the state wants EPA to use its Superfund authority to protect human health and the environment and not defer solely to the commission.
Washington state environmental groups have criticized the commission as being dominated by Idaho officials, including county commissioners hostile to the EPA's cleanup efforts in the Silver Valley.
Washington's major concern is that surface water quality standards for heavy metals may not be met in the Spokane River even after years of cleanup work, Fitzsimmons said.
The state wants additional action in several places, including:
•Canyon Creek near Wallace. EPA has proposed an experimental, passive treatment system to reduce metals loading in the stream, a major source of zinc. Zinc is a hazard to fish and aquatic life. If that doesn't work, the state says an active treatment system should be built.
•The Bunker Hill Superfund site at Kellogg, where $253 million has been spent on cleanup. Washington wants EPA commitments to reduce metals contamination from the old Bunker Hill Mine site, which still contributes over half the zinc in the river system.
•Mission Flats near Cataldo. The state is calling for a hydrogeologic evaluation and a better plan to reduce dissolved metals from an old mine dredge site on the flats.
•Lake Coeur d'Alene. Idaho and the EPA have agreed not to use Superfund money to clean up 70 million tons of mine sediments at the bottom of the lake.
However, Washington state wants EPA to apply "all available regulatory and legal authorities" to protect water quality in the lake -- including the clout of federal law.
Washington is concerned that an Idaho management plan for the lake may not be adequately funded or aggressive enough to protect the Spokane River, Goldstein said.
•Karen Dorn Steele can be reached at 459-5462 or by e-mail at karend@spokesman.com.
