Superfund site to get physical
Silver Valley group plans telephone survey

Benjamin Shors
Staff writer

Miller

Coeur d'Alene _ A Silver Valley group will begin a three-month telephone survey this week on health problems at the Bunker Hill Superfund site.

The Silver Valley People's Action Coalition says that despite two decades of federal cleanup, a comprehensive study of health problems never has been completed.

"There's never been a sound scientific study done here," said Barbara Miller, the group's director. "Even though ours isn't a sound scientific survey, it's the initial stages of a credible scientific assessment."

The coalition's 11-page survey will examine rates of heart disease, lung problems, cancer and other illnesses, said Dr. Bob Colonna, a psychologist who works for the group. The assessment also will look at exposures to lead. Participants will receive a free lead testing kit.

The survey will cover the towns of Kellogg, Page, Wardner, Pinehurst and Wallace.

Later, Colonna said, the survey will be expanded into the larger Coeur d'Alene Basin.

"We're not going to make judgments to see if it's caused by this or that," Colonna said. "We want a snapshot of the health condition of this valley."

Lois Gibbs, who led protests over a toxic waste dump at Love Canal, N.Y., will serve as a technical adviser for the survey. Gibbs heads the Center for Health and Environmental Justice in Falls Church, Va.

The survey will be paid for in part by a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant. Miller declined to reveal the amount of the grant but said the study will be conducted with help from volunteers and nonprofit environmental groups.

Colonna said the study could be used to apply for grants to establish a lead health clinic.

"The Silver Valley desperately needs doctors, social workers, psychologists, pediatricians and adult internists trained to deal with environmental medicine," said Dr. John Rosen, a New York lead expert and consultant to the group, in a press release from the coalition. "These areas are beyond the capability of their local medical community."

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