Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne seized on the results to bash a broad-brush Superfund designation for the entire area. "The health stigma surrounding the Coeur d'Alene Basin should be put to rest for good," Kempthorne said in a statement from Boise.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released its 30-year cleanup plan for the Basin last month. Called a record of decision, it includes a five-year, $92 million program to protect public health by scrubbing more lead from the upper Basin and the beaches of the Spokane River in Washington.
"The Basin is safe right now, and in the next few years it will be made even safer through work to be done under the recently adopted record of decision," Kempthorne said.
The blood-lead results don't represent a complete picture, because not all kids in the mining district were tested in the voluntary screening.
More than half the children living near Kellogg participate in the annual survey, but only 10 percent to 15 percent volunteer in the mining towns, said Jerry Cobb of the health district.
Despite the data gaps, the survey results are a sign that cleanup of mine wastes in yards, schools and public areas is working, he said.
"We're getting better every year. The data appear to be a trend and not some anomaly," Cobb said.
More cleanup in yards and public areas of the upper Basin is still necessary to reduce risks to kids, said Marc Stifelman, an EPA toxicologist in Seattle.
"While we're happy to see the declines, it doesn't mean there's not more work to do," Stifelman said.
The Superfund "box" at Kellogg is the site of the former Bunker Hill smelter, which spewed tons of lead into nearby small towns in the 1970s when it operated with a damaged pollution control system.
Tens of thousands of tons of lead from the Bunker Hill smelter and mine tailings have blown for decades up and down the valley, a 1999 Idaho technical report says.
In 1991, the U.S. Public Health Service said children shouldn't have more than 10 micrograms of lead in a deciliter of blood -- the equivalent of a microscopic speck of metal in less than a half-cup of blood. It recommends medical intervention at twice that level.
IQ loss from lead exposure is permanent. It can also cause disrupted balance, hearing problems, tooth decay and nervous system and kidney damage. It's especially dangerous in young children.
•Karen Dorn Steele can be reached at 459 5462 or by e-mail at karend@spokesman.com.
