U.S. Silver Corporation pays EPA $87,000 to settle Clean Water Act violations in Idahos Silver Valley (WA)
(Seattle – May 16, 2011) U.S. Silver
Corporation, owner and operator of the Coeur and Galena Mines and
Mills near Wallace in Idaho’s “Silver Valley,”
has agreed to pay $87,000 in penalties to settle federal Clean
Water Act discharge violations.
The agreement, captured in a Consent Agreement
and Final Order (CAFO) between EPA and U.S. Silver, resolves the
company’s National Pollution Discharge Elimination System
permit violations and unpermitted discharges at the mines and mills
that occurred from 2008 to 2010.
According to Edward Kowalski, Director of
EPA’s Office of Compliance and Enforcement in Seattle,
discharge violations in the Silver Valley are especially
troubling.
“The South Fork Coeur d’Alene River
and its tributary streams are struggling to recover from a century
of mine waste discharge,” Kowalski said. “Companies
need to ensure that they are not only meeting their permit
obligations, but also investing in their plant and equipment to
protect Idaho’s rivers and streams for future
generations.”
Officials familiar with the case confirm that
U.S. Silver’s violations included unpermitted discharges of
mine tailings and exceedances of the NPDES permit’s effluent
limits for copper, lead, and mercury.
In addition to paying the $87,000 penalty, U.S.
Silver recently made structural improvements to its tailings
pipelines to reduce risk of future spills, and encouraged employees
to become more vigilant in preventing and reporting accidental
spills.