New study looks at recreational areas on Coeur d’Alene Lake and Spokane River

The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality is looking for your input on where and how you recreate around Coeur d’Alene Lake and the Spokane River to help guide a study that is under way. According to a 1999 screening health evaluation of common use areas around Coeur d’Alene Lake and the Spokane River, and subsequent monitoring at Harrison Beach, recreational beaches around the Lake and River did not pose an unacceptable risk to heavy metals exposure related to historic mining. However, these areas, for the most part, haven’t been investigated since the assessment in the late 1990s. IDEQ has initiated a Lake-focused human health risk assessment project, funded by Governor Little’s Leading Idaho Initiative. The project was recommended in the 2022 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NAS) Consensus Report, The Future of Water Quality in Coeur d’Alene Lake, which can be accessed at https://www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/the-future-of-water-quality-in-coeur-dalene-lake.

The purpose of the project is to re-evaluate recreational and occupational exposures and potential health risks related to heavy metals in Coeur d’Alene Lake and the Spokane River resulting from legacy mining activities upstream in the Coeur d’Alene River Basin. The goal is to help identify areas around the Lake that may pose unacceptable risk from exposure to heavy metals and implement any related actions needed to minimize risk. Additionally, this project intends to increase public awareness of contaminants that may be present in and around the Lake and River.

The project is similar to the 1999 screening health evaluation conducted as part of an evaluation of human health risks in the Coeur d’Alene Basin at that time. That larger effort fell under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, commonly referred to as “Superfund,” and resulted in the ongoing cleanup activities occurring in what is called the Bunker Hill Mining and Metallurgical Complex Superfund Site.

The 1999 Lake evaluation identified two locations with elevated metals levels - Harrison Beach and Blackwell Island. Follow up investigations led to cleanup activities and ongoing monitoring at Harrison City Beach. The public access at Blackwell Island was subsequently developed as a day use area with a boat launch and boardwalk trail system.

The new study will compile and collect environmental data in and around the Lake and River to compare to human health risk standards. Any new environmental data collected at the same locations previously sampled will also help to inform how risks might have changed over time. Although remedial actions have been - and are still being - implemented throughout the Coeur d’Alene Basin, annual seasonal flooding events bring new contamination to the Lake every year. How these runoff events affect concentrations of heavy metals on beaches around Coeur d’Alene Lake and the Spokane River has not been fully assessed since the late 1990s. This project fills a data gap on beach heavy metal levels in the area.

So why hasn’t there been another study between the late 1990s and today? Well, it hasn’t gone entirely by the wayside. Remediation occurred at Harrison Beach years ago, and monitoring occurs annually. According to Andy Helkey, Kellogg Program Remediation Manager for IDEQ, Harrison is used as a “canary in the coal mine” to indicate if any of the other shoreline recreational areas downstream may be becoming contaminated with lead levels that would require further attention. If lead deposition on beaches is going to happen anywhere around Coeur d’Alene Lake, he expects to see it here at Harrison Beach.

This topic caught the attention of the NAS during their review, and it has not gone unnoticed by our local community. Korrine Rothrock, spokesperson for the citizen group, Lake Health Cd’A, has communicated with DEQ representatives in recent years about the lack of access to current data on beach sediment. As a mother of a young child who loves playing at the beach, she wants access to “current, time-relevant information to make informed decisions for (her) family’s health.” She further highlights that it’s not clear to those in the community what warrants concern and signage in recreational areas. “Why are there signs in some places along the Coeur d’Alene River, and there aren’t any around the Lake?”

Cynthia Rozyla, board chair of the Kootenai Environmental Alliance, shares in the concern related to the health of Coeur d’Alene Lake and shoreline areas along the Lake and the Spokane River.

“As the Waterkeeper for North Idaho, KEA receives questions (about metals in the lake and beach safety) from community members on a regular basis. We strive to answer these questions accurately and to provide solid education about the health of our lake and watershed,” Rozyla said. "If we don’t regularly test the water, we can’t identify what’s happening and what we can do about it. Testing on a regular basis is absolutely necessary to detect changes, take action, and keep our community informed.”

The current study aims to provide relevant and current information to the local communities and folks like Rothrock and Rozyla, as well as local and regional decision-makers.

DEQ is seeking input from the public and tribal, state, and federal officials to provide information on recreational activities as well as occupations that regularly place workers in proximity to lake and riverbed beaches, water, and sediments. This information will help shape the plan to collect environmental data, which is scheduled to occur in 2024. The environmental data will be used in the risk assessment and inform future decision-making to protect public health, and a final report is scheduled for completion early 2026. If you are interested in providing information about how and where you work and recreate in and around the Lake and the Idaho side of the Spokane River, please fill out the questionnaire on the project web page: https://www.deq.idaho.gov/lake-focused-human-health-risk-assessment/.

In the meantime, what can you do to reduce the risk of being exposed to metals?

Follow the safety tips and tricks at:

https://www.deq.idaho.gov/waste-management-and-remediation/mining-in-idaho/play-clean-in-the-coeur-dalene-basin/

The Our Gem Coeur d’Alene Lake Collaborative is a team of committed and passionate professionals working to preserve lake health and protect water quality by promoting community awareness of local water resources through education, outreach and stewardship. Our Gem includes local experts from the University of Idaho Community Water Resource Center, Coeur d’Alene Tribe, Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, Kootenai Environmental Alliance, Kootenai County, Coeur d’Alene Regional Chamber of Commerce, and Connect Kootenai.