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
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Wednesday, August 30, 2023
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On Sept. 3, 1973, a fire swept through the baghouse of the Bunker Hill mine in Idaho’s Silver Valley.
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.