Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act

CERCLA

Phosphate mining in southeast Idaho over the last 100 years has left waste rock dumps and open pits at more than two dozen closed mines. If not managed properly, selenium and other hazardous substances can potentially pollute the nearby water, soil, sediments, or plants. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) provides a framework to address these issues. Investigations and planning for cleanup at several sites are ongoing under the oversight of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and/or the USDA Forest Service (USFS) and/or the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), exercising its authorities under state law. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) are participating as support agencies.

CERCLA community involvement guidelines say that members of the public affected by a cleanup site have a right to know about activities taking place in their community and to have a say in the decision making process. The agencies, Tribes, and mining companies participating in the investigations in southeast Idaho welcome public involvement throughout the process because they believe it ultimately produces better cleanup decisions.