Spokane

Groups say Coeur d'Alene Basin pact illegal
Activists say Bush administration agreement caters to `interests hostile to Superfund'

Karen Dorn Steele
Staff writer

The Bush administration's decision to put the Superfund cleanup of Silver Valley mine wastes in the hands of an Idaho commission is illegal, six prominent environmental groups say.

In a letter Monday to Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., they asked for congressional oversight and an independent investigation into the legality of the unprecedented commission.

The groups also want the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to amend its recently released $359 million cleanup plan by dropping its formal agreement to work through the new commission.

The makeup and powers of the Basin Environmental Improvement Project Commission set an "alarming precedent" that could undermine how the Superfund law works across the country, said Bonnie Gerstring of the Mineral Policy Center in Washington, D.C., a group that advocates stricter environmental standards for mining companies.

Others signing the letter: Lois Gibbs, a nationally known activist at the Love Canal Superfund site in New York; Debbie Sease, legislative director of the Sierra Club; Grant Cope, staff attorney for U.S. Public Interest Research Group, founded by activist Ralph Nader; Barbara Miller, director of the Silver Valley People's Action Coalition in Kellogg; and Robert Pregulman, executive director of WashPIRG, a Washington state group.

EPA doesn't think its agreement with Idaho is illegal, said Cara Steiner-Riley, an EPA regional attorney in Seattle.

"We have reserved all our (Superfund) authority and we are working with all the stakeholders to implement our record of decision," the 30-year cleanup plan for the Basin, Steiner-Riley said.

The seven-member commission met for the first time with all its members last Friday in Coeur d'Alene. It has one non-voting seat for Washington. With the help of a large technical support group, it is supposed to oversee much of EPA's massive cleanup plan.

Washington state officials have also signed on to the EPA agreement to work through the commission.

In contrast to the Idaho agreement, Superfund law sets a clear legal standard for cleanup and doesn't allow local representatives to veto EPA cleanup decisions, said Cope, of USPIRG.

The groups accuse the Bush administration of ignoring Superfund's existing provisions for local public input and deciding to "cater to interests hostile to Superfund."

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