Notable case, Kellogg, Idaho, United States

Bunker Hill Mining and Metallurgical Complex

A lead mine and smelter in northern Idaho. After the baghouse fire of 1973 the smelter kept running and many children in Kellogg were found to have lead poisoning; metals contaminate the Coeur d'Alene basin along 166 river miles.

Phytoremediation

At a glance

Area
388,500 ha on land1
Activity
1886–1981
Media
soil, sediment, groundwater, surface water
Kind of site
mining, smelter
National list
Listed 1983National Priorities List
  1. Area. The site covers about 1,500 square miles (388,500 ha) and 166 river miles across northern Idaho and eastern Washington. The Box, the historic smelter area, is 21 square miles (about 5,440 ha).

Contaminants

Metals

Metalloids

National list

On the list (final)United States

Superfund National Priorities List (NPL)

Listed
1983
Official id
IDD048340921 ↗
About this list

The list of contaminated sites that are national priorities for federal clean-up under CERCLA (Superfund, 1980), kept by EPA (40 CFR Part 300, Appendix B). Listing makes a site eligible for long-term remedial action paid by the Superfund; sites are proposed and then listed through Federal Register notices, and deleted when no further response is needed.

Includes federal facilities (Defense, Energy). Dates are the years of the Federal Register notices (final listing, deletion); 'listed' is empty for proposed sites. Some sites still on the list have had partial deletions. Contaminants and media: contaminants of concern from decision documents (RODs, ROD amendments, ESDs; EPA, fiscal years 1981-2024, SEMS document HQ/406315); for sites with no decision document (mostly proposed or recently listed) the contaminants are those EPA records for the site (FOIA-015, document HQ/406366), with no medium. 'Deleted' means EPA found no further response needed, which can include land-use controls still in force.

Status

Remediation under way

More than 7,000 yards and public spaces have been remediated; groundwater treatment, repository management and institutional controls continue. According to EPA, completion will take decades more.

Story

The orebody was found in 1885 and the mine opened in 1886; the lead smelter was built in 1917. According to EPA, mining, which began in 1883, left heavy metals in soil, sediment, surface water and groundwater.

On 3 September 1973 a fire damaged the smelter's baghouse. Production carried on, and lead emissions rose to 35.3 tons a month, against 8.3 in 1955–1964. In 1974, after some children were hospitalised, the CDC found that 22% of children living within a mile of the plant had lead poisoning. The smelter closed in 1981–82.

The site went on the National Priorities List in 1983. The cleanup replaced soil in yards and public spaces and revegetated the bare hillsides; according to EPA, children's blood lead has more than halved from its historical highs. In 2011 Hecla Mining agreed to pay $263.4 million plus interest for restoration, in the lawsuit begun in 1991 by the Coeur d'Alene Tribe.

Timeline

  1. 1885Orebody discovered.
  2. 1917Lead smelter built.
  3. 1973Baghouse fire; the smelter keeps operating.
  4. 1974CDC documents lead poisoning in children.
  5. 1981The smelter closes.
  6. 1983Placed on the National Priorities List.
  7. 2011$263.4 million settlement with Hecla Mining.

Health

In 1974 the CDC found lead poisoning in 22% of children living within a mile of the smelter (Wikipedia). EPA reports that children's blood lead has since fallen by more than 50% from its historical highs, to below the CDC reference value of 5 µg/dL.

Remediation

  1. —soil replacementSoil replaced in more than 7,000 yards and public spaces.
  2. —revegetationRevegetation of the bare hillsides around the smelter; the EPA page does not describe methods or species.

Plants and fungi at this site

PhytoremediationField scale, 1997–1999

Brown, Henry, Compton, Chaney and DeVolder surface-applied, from June 1997, mixtures of high-nitrogen biosolids (44 or 66 t/ha) and wood ash (220 t/ha), with or without log-yard debris or pulp and paper sludge, and then seeded.

Outcome In 1999 plant biomass was 3.4 t/ha on amended plots against 0.01 t/ha on the control, and metals in the plants were at normal levels. Extractable zinc in the subsoil fell from about 50 to under 4 mg/kg in two treatments. Lime alone and microbial stimulants were not enough to restore cover. The data span two to three years.

From the literature

Species that acted on one of this site's contaminants in at least one study. The list is automatic and takes no account of this site's soil, concentrations or climate.

Plants

Fungi

The rest are on the contaminant pages.

Nearby

Sources

  1. Bunker Hill Mining & Metallurgical Complex, Smelterville, ID – Cleanup Activities, US EPA, 2026
  2. Bunker Hill Mine and Smelting Complex, Wikipedia, 2026

Draft compiled from public sources, not yet reviewed.