This is a list of Superfund sites in Idaho, United States of America, as designated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). CERCLA, passed by Congress in 1980, authorized EPA to create a list of polluted locations requiring a long-term response to clean up hazardous-material contamination.P.L. 96-510, ), December 11, 1980. These locations are designated as Superfund sites, and are placed on EPA's National Priorities List (NPL).
The NPL guides the EPA in "determining which sites warrant further investigation" for environmental remediation. The industrial sites were areas of mining, heavy metal processing and manufacturing, during a period when processes were inefficient and wastes were dumped, contaminating water and land, with polluting materials also released into the air. In many cases the companies responsible for contamination are no longer in business, and the federal government has had to contribute to clean-up to protect citizens' health.
As of April 2010, there were six Superfund sites in Idaho on the National Priorities List. Three more sites have been proposed as qualifying for entry on the list, and three have been cleaned up and removed from the list.
Superfund sites
CERCLIS IDNameCountyReasonProposedListedConstructioncompletedPartiallydeletedDeletedIDD000800961Arrcom (Drexler Enterprises)KootenaiSite soil contamination by VOCs, heavy metals including lead and mercury, acid, PCBs and PCP from waste oil recycling. Asbestos contamination in site buildings. 12/30/1982 09/08/1983 12/23/1992IDD980725832Blackbird MineLemhiGroundwater, surface water, soil and sediment contamination by copper, cobalt and arsenic. Acid rock drainage from mine tunnels and waste has decreased water quality in local creeks, affecting chinook salmon and other threatened and endangered species. 05/10/1993 IDD048340921Bunker Hill Mining & MetallurgicalShoshoneThe Coeur d'Alene River basin contains millions of tons of mine tailings, waste rock and ore concentrates. Soil, sediments, groundwater and surface water are contaminated with heavy metals including cadmium, lead and zinc from former mining and smelting operations. 12/30/1982 09/08/1983 IDD984666610Eastern Michaud Flats ContaminationPower and Bannock Groundwater and surface water contamination by arsenic and phosphorus from phosphorus ore processing plants. Off-site soil contamination from airborne release of fluoride, radium-226 and cadmium; on-site soil contamination by cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, nickel, silver, vanadium, zinc, radium-226 and fluoride. 05/05/1989 08/30/1990 ID4890008952Idaho National Laboratory (DOE)Butte, Clark, Jefferson, and BinghamGroundwater contamination by hexavalent chromium, iodine-129, strontium-90, technetium-99, tritium, carbon tetrachloride and TCE; soil contamination by heavy metals including lead and mercury, by VOCs, and by radionuclides, including cesium-137, strontium-90, and plutonium. 07/14/1989 11/21/1989 IDD041310707Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp. (Soda Springs)CaribouSurface water, ground water and solid waste contamination by vanadium, arsenic, molybdenum, manganese, tributyl phosphate and total petroleum hydrocarbons. 05/05/1989 10/04/1989 IDD081830994Monsanto Chemical Co. (Soda Springs)CaribouGroundwater contamination by cadmium, selenium, nitrate, and fluoride from phosphorus ore processing plant. Soil on-site and on nearby buffer properties contaminated by radium-226 blown from ore stockpiles. 05/05/1989 08/30/1990 ID3572124557Mountain Home Air Force BaseElmoreGroundwater contamination by TCE, aviation fuel and benzene from aircraft maintenance and industrial operations. 07/14/1989 08/30/1990 IDD098812878Pacific Hide & Fur Recycling Co.BannockSoil contamination by PCBs, lead and other inorganic compounds from scrap metal disposal. 09/08/1983 09/21/1984 11/04/1999IDSFN1002095St. Maries CreosoteBenewahCreosote contamination of debris, soil and surface water from pole treatment plant. 12/01/2000 IDD980665459Stibnite/Yellow Pine Mining AreaValleyHeavy metal, arsenic and cyanide contamination of groundwater, seeps, sediments and soils from gold-antimony ore mining and milling. 09/13/2001 IDD055030852Union Pacific Railroad Co.BannockGroundwater contamination by heavy metals, PAHs and organic compounds from Union Pacific's waste water treatment facility and an adjacent tie treatment plant. 09/08/1983 09/21/1984 09/19/1996 09/22/1997
In addition, a proposal to add the Triumph Mine Tailings Site to the NPL was made in 1993 but withdrawn in 2003 as the EPA felt that all major sources of risk had been mitigated.
See also
List of Superfund sites in the United States List of environmental issues List of waste types TOXMAP
References
External links EPA list of proposed Superfund sites in Idaho EPA list of current Superfund sites in Idaho EPA list of Superfund site construction completions in Idaho EPA list of partially deleted Superfund sites in Idaho EPA list of deleted Superfund sites in Idaho