Superfund plan for Columbia River sparks debate in Northwest

The waters in the river basin, including the popular Lake Roosevelt behind the Grand Coulee Dam, are safe for recreation, the agency says.

Toronto-based Teck Metals says it has spent more than $170 million on studies of the river contamination, and between the company and the EPA more than 50 residential properties have been cleaned up. But the agency says about 150 other properties still have lead levels above a recently tightened standard for protecting human health.

Disputes over the pollution date back to the 1930s when the United States first demanded that Canada pay for damages in the state of Washington caused by the smelter. But it wasn’t until 2003, in response to a petition from tribes in the region, that the EPA ordered Teck to conduct studies of the contamination.

What followed were two decades of risk debates and cross-border litigation, including a lengthy federal case over whether air pollution can be considered a source of contamination at a Superfund site, an argument the EPA eventually lost.

From the state’s perspective, the process has taken too long, which is why a Superfund designation is needed, said Brook Beeler, Eastern regional manager at the Washington State Department of Ecology.

“We’re really supportive of the notion of listing this so EPA has all of the tools available to them to compel action and get it out of the mire of litigation that we’ve been in for the past 20 years,” Beeler said in an interview.

The spokesman for Rodgers, who represents the area of the proposed designation, said she believes the EPA should wait until it has completed all its studies before deciding how the site should be defined.

Assessments pending

Many local officials in the region, including 16 counties represented by the Eastern Washington Council of Governments, have written to the EPA opposing the Superfund designation, citing concerns about the impacts on property values and the region’s economy, and about the transparency of EPA’s process.

They also say the EPA should complete a Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study as required by the Superfund law before deciding on a designation.

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