CERCLA (Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act), and

NRDA (Natural Resource Damage Assessment Program)

The UCFWO CERCLA/NRDA team has been involved in designing and conducting biological investigations as part of various multi-agency efforts to restore sites in the region from the historic and current impacts of pulp mills, wood treatment plants, mining smelter activities, and mining. The team provides technical expertise regarding environmental contaminants, such as the impacts of oil, metals (in particular lead poisoning in waterfowl), radio nuclides, PCBs, and dioxin to fish and wildlife resources. Service biologists from UCFWO are also involved in efforts to resolve issues and identify restoration projects with regard to NRDA sites, such as in the Coeur d'Alene Basin. Cooperating partners in these various efforts include numerous Federal and State agencies, businesses, Non Governmental Organizations, and Tribes.

 

Coeur d'Alene Basin Natural Resource Trustees Complete First Mining-Related Interim Restoration Plan

The Coeur d’Alene Basin has a proud mining history. Unfortunately, mining related activities caused widespread damage to the basin’s environment and fish and wildlife that continue to utilize it. After almost a century of this environmental damage, the initiation of restoration through the NRDA process signals a turning point in the recovery of the local ecosystem.

The Coeur d'Alene Basin Natural Resource Trustees (Trustees), a partnership between the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) [U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Land Management], U.S. Department of Agriculture (Forest Service), and the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, in coordination with the State of Idaho, developed the Coeur d'Alene Basin Final Interim Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment (FIRP/EA), and the Finding Of No Significant Impact (FONSI) to address the environmental damage.

The projects outlined in the final interim plan are not intended to quantify or analyze the full extent of restoration needed in the Basin, nor are they expected to fully restore mining-related natural resource damage in the Basin. Rather, these activities will partially compensate the public for such losses by restoring wildlife habitat and begining the restoration process.

The preferred alternative includes a limited number of restoration projects in river, riparian, and wetland systems within the Basin to be accomplished over the next several years. At this time, the Trustees have approximately $5 million available from previous settlements to complete restoration projects. These projects include restoration work in Moon Creek, Sherlock Creek, Pine Creek, Alder Creek, Benewah Creek, Hepton Lake, and targeted wetland restoration. The Trustees will implement restoration activities in coordination with Superfund cleanup activities being performed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the State of Idaho.

Questions or requests for additional information may be made to:

Brian Spears, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Upper Columbia Fish and Wildlife Office, Spokane, WA, 509-893-8032.

Jeff Johnson, U.S. Forest Service, IPNF Office, 3815 Schreiber Way, Coeur d'Alene, ID 83815, 208-765-7442.

David Fortier, Bureau of Land Management, 3815 Schreiber Way, Coeur d'Alene, ID 83815, 208-769-5022.

Rob Spafford, Coeur d'Alene Tribe, Lake Management Department, 424 E. Sherman Avenue, Suite 306, Coeur d'Alene, ID 83814, 208-667-5772.