Higgens oil project on hold

COEUR d'ALENE — The Idaho Transportation Department said Tuesday it is pausing efforts to install a new containment system to capture any future fluids that may be released from heavy equipment that fell into Lake Coeur d’Alene near Higgens Point decades ago.

The department hired a specialized contractor in February to design a new containment system for about $250,000.

To design the system, ITD deployed divers and initiated several types of imaging to determine the precise location of the equipment, according to a press release.

“We weren’t able to identify the exact location of the dozer to the point we would be able to place the new system,” Emergency Response Coordinator Chris Williams said. "Due to poor visibility under 90 feet of water, the historic landslide that buried the equipment, and the presence of heavy metals that make imaging ineffective, at this time we have decided to put our plans on hold.”

ITD was notified of product coming to the surface in the general vicinity of the relic equipment in early December.

The equipment stopped leaking later in December, ITD said, and absorbent booms were placed on the lake’s surface over the sunken equipment. The booms were removed after Memorial Day weekend.

“With more boaters out on the water, maintaining these booms was not feasible or cost-effective,” Williams said.

A D9 dozer fell in the lake during Interstate 90 construction in 1990. It was left there, rather than risk tearing up the lakebed and the spawning area, according to a previous Press report.

In 2000 and in 2010, oil leaked to the surface before repairs stopped it temporarily.

ITD is working with the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality to determine next steps and implement a monitoring program.