Issue Position: Coeur D'Alene Basin Clean-up

Issue Position

Issue Position: Coeur D'Alene Basin Clean-up

Senator Murray believes that polluters - not taxpayers - should pay to clean up abandoned Superfund sites. Since 1980, under the law, the chemical and petroleum industries have paid fees into a fund used to clean up abandoned toxic waste sites. The legislation allowing the fee expired in 1995. In 2003, the Bush Administration would not seek to renew it. If the president does not reinstate "polluter pays," then taxpayers will soon be on the hook for 100 percent of the clean up trust fund.

There are hundreds of toxic sites throughout the country that need to be cleaned up, including the Coeur D'Alene basin and approximately 60 other sites in Washington State. Senator Murray joined 27 other U.S. Senators from both parties voting for an amendment to the FY 2004 Budget Resolution to restore the "polluter pays" Superfund tax. Senator Murray has also cosponsored legislation introduced by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) to reinstate the Superfund tax. The bill, S. 173, has been cosponsored by 24 other Senators and referred to the Senate Finance Committee.

Decades of Contamination

The Bunker Hill Mining and Metallurgical Site polluted the Coeur D'Alene River, Lake Coeur D'Alene and the Spokane River with its mining and lead smelting operations from the late 1800s through the 1970s. These operations contaminated the soil, groundwater, air and the river systems with lead, arsenic, zinc, and cadmium. As a result, the Coeur D'Alene basin has been designated a Superfund site.

Record of Decision

Murray kept pressure on the EPA to issue the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Coeur d'Alene Basin, which had been delayed for years. Murray had a lengthy conversation with Administrator Whitman and followed up with a letter to urge the EPA to issue the ROD. The ROD was issued in September 2002 and is a necessary precursor for cleanup to begin. The long-overdue effort will reduce the influx of water pollution from Idaho into Washington State via the Spokane River. (To get a copy of the EPA's 2002 Record of Decision Fact Sheet, and a map of the polluted sites along the Spokane River, please call 202-224-2834.)

EPA Announces Clean-up for Idaho side of Basin but not Washington side!

Murray statement:

"It is deeply troubling that the EPA has chosen not to fund cleanup efforts in Washington state, despite the contamination of our water and our soil. It is outrageous that EPA is going to fund cleanup for the same project on the Idaho side of the border, but ignore the Washington sites. EPA's own Record of Decision in 2002 declared that the Washington sites ‘have been identified for cleanup on the basis of potential human and ecological risk.'

The men, women and children who live in Eastern Washington deserve to live in a healthy, clean environment. It is tragic that the EPA won't commit the resources to make this happen.

The problem, according to the EPA, is that the Superfund account is inadequate to clean up all of the necessary sites. The solution is to reinstate the Superfund tax.

The Superfund tax was established to make certain that polluters, not taxpayers, are held accountable to clean up toxic waste.

Unfortunately, there are some who oppose reinstating the Superfund tax. Apparently, they would prefer to let the polluters off the hook, stick taxpayers with the bill, and indefinitely delay the Spokane River cleanup."

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