50 years after the Bunker Hill mine fire caused one of the largest lead-poisoning cases in US history, Idaho's Silver Valley is still at risk

On Sept. 3, 1973, a fire swept through the baghouse of the Bunker Hill mine in Idaho’s Silver Valley.

Metadata
Provider: 
The ConversationThe Conversation
URL: 
https://theconversation.com/50-years-after-the-bunker-hill-mine-fire-caused-one-of-the-largest-lead-poisoning-cases-in-us-history-idahos-silver-valley-is-still-at-risk-210452https://theconversation.com/50-years-after-the-bunker-hill-mine-fire-caused-one-of-the-largest-lead-poisoning-cases-in-us-history-idahos-silver-valley-is-still-at-risk-210452
Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, August 30, 2023
Information
Tags: 
Bunker Hill, Lead, The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street, Placenta, Central nervous system, Zinc, Metal, Cognitive deficit, Horse, Poisoning, Gas, Breast milk, IQ, Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, Environmental quality, Baghouse, Mercury, History, Pinehurst, Calcium, Lake Coeur d'Alene, CDC, Soil, Iron, Premature, Time, River, Child, Blood, Arsenic, Filtration, Weather, Program, Pregnancy, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Center, Health, Poison, Environment, Bird, Wetland, Copper, Dam, Vaccine, Jewellery, Mining, Environmental remediation, Silver
Geotags: 
IDAHO, SILVER VALLEY, MICHIGAN, WASHINGTON
Summary
Key Points: 
  • On Sept. 3, 1973, a fire swept through the baghouse of the Bunker Hill mine in Idaho’s Silver Valley.
  • The building was designed to filter pollutants produced by smelting, the melting of rocks that separates metal from its ore.
  • At the time, the prices of lead and silver were climbing toward all-time highs.
  • They increased production, bypassed the filtration steps and, for eleven months, dumped noxious gases directly into the surrounding area.

How lead harms human health

    • However, we have zero need for lead.
    • It can also cause problems with brain development, kidney function and reproductive health, including miscarriages, prematurity and low birth weight.
    • The CDC no longer uses “level of concern” as a threshold, because there is no safe blood lead level in children.

Children’s health after the Baghouse Fire

    • The children of the Silver Valley were exposed to extremely high levels of poisons after the Baghouse Fire at the Bunker Hill mine.
    • Their average blood lead level was 67.4 micrograms per deciliter.
    • It is difficult to assess the extent of the damage from the Baghouse Fire in the children of the Silver Valley.

Continuing health risk in Silver Valley

    • The legacy of the Baghouse Fire continues to haunt Silver Valley, but that incident 50 years ago is only part of the picture.
    • At its height, the Silver Valley area had over 200 active mines.
    • It is estimated that the Coeur d’Alene River delivers about 200 tons of lead to Lake Coeur d’Alene every year.

Swan deaths show the continuing risk

    • In 2022, the average blood lead level for children in “The Box” was estimated at 2.3 micrograms per deciliter, above the U.S. average.
    • The average for the surrounding area was higher, 3.3 micrograms per deciliter.
    • Since 2008, average swan deaths are estimated at 50 to 60 birds per year.
    • There were over 300 bird deaths documented in 2022; a study is underway into the cause.

As Idaho’s population booms, people aren’t aware

    • With population growth comes development, digging and disturbing contaminated soil.
    • Idaho’s Panhandle Health District offers free lead screenings year-round to anyone living or spending time in the area.
    • Mary Rehnborg, program manager for the Institutional Controls Program in the Panhandle Health District, contributed to this article.
Copyright: 
2023 The Conversation. All Rights Reserved.