Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
60-day public comment period starts today
LAKE ROOSEVELT — Contrary to local legislative opinion, the Environmental Protection Agency is moving forward with proposing to add the Upper Columbia River Site to the National Priorities List for consideration as a superfund site.
In a press release sent Tuesday, March 5, the EPA said it will publish its proposal in the Federal Register Thursday, March 7.
“Today’s action builds on decades of efforts to clean up the river and protect the health of people who live, work and recreate in and near the Upper Columbia,” EPA Region 10 Administrator Casey Sixkiller said in the release. “Listing this site on the National Priorities List unlocks the full suite of tools and resources of EPA’s Superfund program to address this complex site and take additional steps to protect young children from harmful levels of lead.”
The Upper Columbia River site runs from Grand Coulee Dam to the Canadian border. The EPA received support for listing the site from Gov. Jay Inslee, the Spokane Tribe of Indians and the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation.
“The Tribe supports EPA acting now to propose placing the Site on the NPL,” Spokane Tribal Business Council Chairman Gregory Abrahamson said in the release. “Once listed, EPA will have access to the Superfund to timely proceed with remedial actions.”
Lincoln County legislative authorities, including the County Commissioners, have voiced their opposition to the superfund listing.
Chief among the concerns is potential tourism impacts from the listing, which the Commissioners fear could lead to bad stigma in the portion of Lake Roosevelt bordering Lincoln County EPA representatives told the Commissioners in October has had no lead found in.
Republican Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the Stevens County Commissioners and Eastern Washington Council of Governments oppose the listing.
Lead levels have been found near Northport in Stevens County.
A Jan. 16 letter from the Stevens County Commissioners called the proposed listing a “money grab.”
Studies have been ongoing by Teck Metals Ltd. and the Dept. of Justice since 2006, according to the release.
Thursday’s published proposal in the Federal Register opens a 60-day public comment period that runs through May 6. Comments can be submitted on the National Priority List website.
According to the press release, the EPA will determine whether to list the site after reviewing public comments. A final decision could come “as early as September,” the release said.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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