Cleanup of toxic metals begins for Harvard Road site on Spokane River
Clean up of toxic metals in the shoreline sediments on the north side of the Spokane River at Harvard Road is beginning Tuesday, August 19.
The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) is cleaning up lead, arsenic, zinc, and cadmium at the site. These metals washed downstream from the Coeur d’Alene basin mining district because of past mining practices and settled along the banks of the Spokane River.
The site covers less than one acre and lies along the northern bank of the Spokane River. It is nearly three miles west of the Idaho state line and immediately west of the Harvard Road Bridge. The area is used for recreation and public access to the Spokane River.
The proposed cleanup is estimated to be completed by the end of September 2008. The river recreation and access area will be closed to the public during the cleanup. Signs have been placed near the site to alert the public about the project and safety issues.
“Our Toxics Cleanup Program continues to make sure real, on-the-ground shoreline cleanup work is continuing,” said Mike Hibbler, who manages Ecology’s toxics cleanup program in Eastern Washington. “This type of cleanup is an example of Ecology-supported actions the public can expect to see over the next several years to bring the river back to being a healthy place we can all enjoy.”
The Harvard Road North cleanup project is needed because the levels of metal contamination exceed standards established for protection of human health and the environment.
Ecology is replacing contaminated soil with clean soil at the site and placing a protective cap of clean sand and gravel on the lower portion of the river bank, where contaminants will not be removed. The soil replacement and cap are designed to prevent people, fish and wildlife from being exposed to lead, arsenic, zinc and cadmium.
In addition to the cleanup work, contractors will relocate the boat launch area at the site.
This is the fourth project so far to clean up metals at contaminated sites along the river in Washington. Ecology completed cleanup at the Island Complex and Murray Road recreation areas in 2007. In 2006, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Ecology completed cleanup work at Starr Road on the Spokane River (a small recreational area between Island Complex and Murray Road).
The EPA originally conducted a study of mining contaminants in the Coeur d’Alene basin. As a result of that study and additional testing by Ecology, nine Washington shoreline areas, including the Harvard Road North site, were selected to be cleaned up.
The cleanup plan can be viewed online at: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/tcp/sites/harvardRoadN/hrn_hp.htm
Media Contact: Cathy Cochrane, communications, 509-329-3343; cell, 509-290-0685; email ccoc461@ecy.wa.gov or Jani Gilbert, communications, 509-329-3495; cell, 509-990-9177; e-mail jagi461@ecy.wa.gov
For more information: