KELLOGG, Idaho – On an early September day in 1973, a fire destroyed a Bunker Hill Mine baghouse which prevented lead from contaminating local soil and waterways. Instead of shutting down, the mine ramped-up production, leading to one of the largest mass lead poisonings in American history. 50 years later, blood lead levels are returning to normal.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and several Idaho public health agencies will explain the impact of restoration work undertaken throughout the Silver Valley on May 15.
According to the Panhandle Health District, blood lead levels in children have declined from 67 to 2 micrograms per deciliter since recovery efforts began in 1974.
“The work at the Bunker Hill Superfund Site is nowhere near complete but vast improvements have been made and should be celebrated,” the agencies said.
The cleanup has undergone several phases. Bunker Hill was designated to the EPA’s National Priorities List in 1983, The Bunker Hill Mining Company filed for bankruptcy in 1991 and the corporation’s assets were auctioned off in 1992.
Bunker Hill Mine was demolished in 1995, signaling the end of an era both for north Idaho’s economy and unchecked corporate environmental damage in the Gem State. In 2002, the mine was expanded as an EPA Superfund cleanup site.
“So far, EPA has removed leaded soils from over 7,000 properties throughout the Silver Valley,” the agencies said.
While the cleanup has decreased blood levels in children around the Silver Valley, a generation of north Idaho residents were medically damaged by the Bunker Hill Mine. The event sharing the progress of the cleanup efforts will take place at Noah’s Loft in Kellogg. Ironically, Noah S. Kellogg was the industrialist who originally discovered the Bunker Hill Mine.
