Month: February 2025
THE DIRT: Air Quality Concerns
Take a deep breath. Notice anything? Perhaps that breath tasted resinous like the fir you cut in June. Was it more of a feeling? Itchy-burning making you sneeze, cough and water at the eyes. Your last batch of festive sugar cookies got too “crispy”. Or maybe tendrils of your neighbors’ chimney smoke infiltrated crevices in your home allowing outdoor air unwanted access. We often take air quality for granted; it is usually unseen, unscented, and fills our lungs to contentment—until it is making us sick. The quality of our air is a graded thing, one we do not control completely but can affect with forethought or oversight.
Short term symptoms of particulate matter exposure include dizziness, fatigue, shortness of breath, and mild respiratory irritations. With repeated exposures, long-term effects can take root. Tissue damage and lung inflammation can lead to increased risk of heart disease, lung cancer, and chronic bronchitis. For people with preexisting respiratory disease, worsening symptoms may occur. We encounter these particles because our daily activities create them. Day-to-day errands in our cars on dusty roads, cooking, cleaning, firing up the woodstove, blowing dust, burning backyard waste, and uncontrolled industrial processes are all potential sources of exposure.
One of the largest lead pollution events in US history started as an air quality incident. At the Bunker Hill lead smelter in 1973, fire broke out in the baghouses and destroyed its air pollution controls. A business decision to bypass damaged filters became the tragedy and hassle of the current Superfund site. Particles of lead and other toxins released into the air caused irrevocable damage to the health of individuals. Pollution did not remain airborne, and the secondary impact was the contamination of soil and water.
Improving air quality requires each of us to do our part. Utilize the air curtain incinerator at the Shoshone County Transfer Station. It is free for county residents! To reduce smoke, drop off your yard trimmings or slash, instead of burning at home. To improve indoor air quality, employ filters to clean the air. Increase filter effectiveness by weatherizing your home where you are able. Be sure to burn clean, dry wood with good technique in woodstoves. Clean floors and dust regularly. Smoke outside. If the air outside is better than indoors, open windows. Cleaning up outdoor air is not as simple as indoor solutions; it is an exercise of developing and practicing good habits that limit the number of particles and toxins released into the atmosphere around us. In general, source control is the best solution.
The Dirt is a series of informative articles focused on all aspects of cleanup efforts associated with the Bunker Hill Superfund Site. Our goal is to promote community awareness of contamination issues, to provide tools for protecting public health, and to keep the community informed of current and future cleanup projects. The Dirt is a group of committed and local experts from multiple agencies including the Basin Environmental Improvement Project Commission, Panhandle Health District, Shoshone County, Silver Valley Economic Development Corporation, and the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality.
THE DIRT: The Super JTI Program
The Superfund Job Training Initiative (SuperJTI) is an environmental remediation job readiness program that provides free training and career development opportunities for people living in communities affected by Superfund sites. The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) goal is to help these communities develop job opportunities that remain long after a Superfund site has been cleaned up.
The EPA held their SuperJTI program for Silver Valley residents this past Spring. Participants in this free program received useful training for environmental jobs in the area. The program provided participants with multiple certifications at no charge and prepared them for careers in environmental cleanup work. These certifications included work readiness, CPR/First Aid, work zone flagging, and Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (40-hour HAZWOPER).
It has been more than six months since the Super JTI graduates completed their training and their progress has been amazing. Of the 12 SuperJTI graduates, 10 are actively working in some capacity.
The graduates have secured jobs in various capacities beyond those just in environmental remediation. Of course, some were hired by companies that relate to cleanup activities such as McGillivray Environmental, Northwind, Traffic Management and Quality Traffic Control. Others are currently employed by Idaho Fish and Game and Moran Mining.
“This was our third SuperJTI held here in the Silver Valley”, said Rene Gilbert who recently worked with the SuperJTI graduates. “The first was held in 2012, and the second in 2013. Some of those graduates are still working for local contractors. That’s not just a seasonal job, that is a career! With the certifications they receive, graduates can choose to pursue jobs locally, or anywhere that these certifications are a requirement for the job. I am very proud of our graduates and love hearing how this program has impacted their lives.”
SuperJTI projects benefit everyone involved by offering participants valuable training in marketable skills, boosting the local tax base for residents, and supplying cleanup contractors with a motivated and skilled labor force. EPA is also able to increase community awareness of cleanup efforts and environmental issues through each successfully completed SuperJTI series.
The Dirt is a series of informative articles focused on all aspects of cleanup efforts associated with the Bunker Hill Superfund Site. Our goal is to promote community awareness of contamination issues, to provide tools for protecting public health, and to keep the community informed of current and future cleanup projects. The Dirt is a group of committed and local experts from multiple agencies including the Basin Environmental Improvement Project Commission, Panhandle Health District, Shoshone County, Silver Valley Economic Development Corporation, and the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality.
