Opinions of Mullan, Osburn, Wallace areas outside of CDA? (Kellogg: ski resort, home)

[kttam186290]

You need to research the toxic heavy metal pollution in this area due to decades of mining. [mod cut]

[movintime]

Originally Posted by banjomike

Wallace was home to Idaho's largest mine, the Sunshine mine, for over 100 years. All mines create a lot of acids and toxic stuff, and Wallace is a superfund site. It's been in superfund remediation for a long time- 20 years or more.

While Wallace was once much larger, the population shrunk to less than half after the closing, as the mine was the largest employer in the valley. The Sunshine at its peak employed over 2000 people.

In the 1970s, a fire in the mine killed 200 miners. It was the largest industrial accident in Idaho history.

Mullen and Osborn are both former mining/logging camps. The Silver Valley once had many more similar camps, but the Big Burn destroyed some of them, and others were gradually abandoned as the jobs disappeared over time. Mullen burned, but was re-built.

The settlement in the valley was some of the earliest in the state. The Sunshine mine was the reason why President Lincoln created the Idaho Territory during the Civil War. The silver and gold that came out of the mine largely financed the Union war efforts, and Lincoln created the territory to keep it out of the Confederacy.

Arizona was a territory when the war broke out and it joined the Confederacy. Its gold mines helped fund the Confederate effort, and both sides prepared for a war in the far west, but after an early battle over Arizona, the Confederacy was never able to mount sufficient resistance to the Union troops that occupied the mining areas as the war progressed.

Mike, Great info as usual. Well, still mulling things over there. But since no real hurry time will tell this yr. Keep the info flowing everyone as we all benefit from this. Thanks again & updates as I get them.

[Toyman at Jewel Lake]

I really enjoy Wallace, one of my favorite towns in N. Idaho. Beautiful scenery, surrounded by lots of National Forests, creeks and rivers. Quirky in a cool way, several little bars and restaurants. Nice sized-big enough to have a town feel but not anywhere near oppressive. As far as I'm concerned, CDA and really much of Kootenai County is just getting too populated, crowded and traffic is getting annoying. Wallace is small enough that you actually know people there! Mullan is considerably smaller, but still cool, heading up the mountains a bit getting closer to the Idaho/MT border. Osburn is really small, just a few homes and a bar on the side of the "old highway" heading into Wallace. IMO Wallace is well worth a visit. I regard it as the nicest spot in the Silver Valley.

[movintime]

Hey Toyman, thanks. I think either would suffice (Wallace or Mullan). I still am leery though of any toxic cleanups, as you never really can rid the area of possible carcinogens. But if anyone can add to that idea, please do so. I'm really disappointed that I need to "talk myself into it", as I'm still thinking in my mind that it isn't a really a safely healthy place -- despite the cleanup efforts thus far. Ok, I'll wait to hear locals advice on this issue.

[redwood66]

There is quite a bit of monitoring that goes along with a Superfund location. Monitoring wells, soil sampling, etc.

Here is the DEQ site for that location for more information. The blood lead levels do show above national averages but it is quite better in the last few years.

As much as I love Wallace to visit, I wouldn't live there. The people are nice and you can get a great buy but the lead issue and the narrowness of the valley make it not viable for me.

Bunker Hill Superfund Site - Idaho Department of Environmental Quality

Newsweek article from this year.

http://www.newsweek.com/2016/06/24/b...ng-469222.html

[volosong]

Originally Posted by redwood66

As much as I love Wallace to visit, I wouldn't live there. The people are nice and you can get a great buy but the lead issue and the narrowness of the valley make it not viable for me.

Bunker Hill Superfund Site - Idaho Department of Environmental Quality

Newsweek article from this year.

Bunker Hill Superfund Site Is Still a Toxic Mess, With Legacy of Suffering

Oh my word! I'll have to re-think how often I want to ride the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes. Heading east from its start in Plummer, once you pass Harrison, you start seeing signs telling you to stay on the paved bike path and don't wander onto the adjacent dirt.

I kinda wondered why real estate was so much more reasonable in the Silver Valley than elsewhere in NID.


.

[movintime]

It figures, as we're in Tuc-scummy-son (a dump if you ask me by far -- yes, warm winters but all the gunk, crime, slime that goes w/ it but another story there) & so, Mullan has a few nice deals re homes. Wallace seems out & has has left the bldg too.

But now this impasse re safety w/ lead & cleanups boggles me. This is either a no-go or ok -- yet it seems convoluted upon whom you talk to. Anyone sum this up logically & once for all? I know volosong has his head on strait, hehe, but anyone else help out here?

[redwood66]

movintime I don't like town living so therefore would be looking for something on the outskirts. This would make me more uneasy about the ground even though it might have been remediated. People who have lived for years in Wallace are protective of their town and its legacy - good or bad. I knew quite a few people at work who would not live anywhere else and some are generational Silver Valley citizens. I am retired and don't see them much any longer. Do lots of research and you might want to talk to people who live there. I am not sure how many CD posters actually live there but it seems not too many.

[ShadoAngel]

But now this impasse re safety w/ lead & cleanups boggles me. This is either a no-go or ok -- yet it seems convoluted upon whom you talk to. Anyone sum this up logically & once for all?

This is my understanding from speaking with my relatives that live near CDA and from following the Superfund site for several years now.

Most of the Coeur d'Alene river basin was mined extensively in the 20th century and that the entire area was polluted by that resource extraction industry. The basin includes most of the land south of Lake Pend Oreille and the Clark Fork River, north of the St. Joe River and west of the Montana-Idaho border. Most of the heavy metal was washed away or discharged into the river from the river into Lake Coeur d'Alene. However a lot of toxic heavy metal also contaminated the land, mostly through dust laced with pollutants - especially lead.

The cities in the Silver Valley, but especially Kellogg, were absolutely catastrophically polluted. Everyone that lived there had poisonous levels of lead in their blood. The Newsweek article linked above details the medical issues that many have faced from living near the smelter. A large portion of the Superfund clean up has been literally replacing the ground - digging up the heavy metal-laced soil and transporting it elsewhere and replacing with clean, uncontaminated topsoil and plants. Some people still have large traces of metals in the dust in their homes. That said, the lead levels in the blood of the residents it down dramatically and most everyone is fine these days, due to the extensive cleanup in the town.

The hills around town, however, remain a source of pollution. As volosong mentioned, there are signs that tell you to stay on the pavement. That is because the dirt itself could have metal in it. If you kick it up into the air, you can breathe the dust or someone else can, or the metal-laced dust follows your bike home and winds up contaminating some other surface. The risk level here is entirely manageable. You can recreate in designated areas very safely. You can't just wander around the hills and play in the dirt.

The lake itself is where most of the metal wound up. The toxic compounds usually bonded to something (most cases it's iron oxide, iirc) and fell to the bottom of the lake. Most of the water itself is clean and fine. Many thousands of people recreate in and around the water without issue. Managing the metal in the lake, however, is a growing concern and people need to be aware of it. The metal stays inert at the bottom of the lake as long as the lake conditions are kept healthy. When nutrients are dumped into the lake (usually phosphates in fertilizer, detergents or other compounds in stormwater run off from residential areas) it causes algae and plant life to bloom, which sucks the oxygen out of the water, which can cause those metals to dissolve in the water and then contaminate the surface or make their way downstream to contaminate the Spokane River.

Dredging the lake and storing the metal elsewhere would cost billions of dollars and probably take decades to complete. Keeping the basin free from nutrient loads is a lot easier - but it's hard to get people to care about runoff and other issues when they can't see or experience the consequences of pollution that's already in the lake.

So, to summarize: Silver Valley cities are safe these days. Old buildings and the few untreated yards are the main remaining sources of pollution and not a concern. The surrounding mountains are in the process of being cleaned up and where a lot of the current Superfund work is being completed. The lake is ultra-contaminated but is entirely safe as long as the water isn't polluted with nutrients from human sources. If you stay on trails and designated paths you won't have issues recreating in the mountains or on the lake.

[509]

You might want to read this guys perspective on Wallace and the Silver Valley.

usbackroads™: Wallace, Silver Valley, Idaho

There are about four postings that cover the area.