Coeur d’Alene River Basin, Idaho

Coeur d Alene River Basin, Idaho vs. reference site feces Northern Idaho near mining and smelting complex 1987-89 dead or moribund vs. apparently healthy birds from reference site 800 DW (90th percentile was 2700 DW) vs. 2.1 DW 123... 

Mink, L. L., Williams, R. E. Wallace, A. (1971). Effect of Industrial and Domestic Effluents on the Water Quality of the Coeur d Alene River Basin. Idaho Bureau of Mines and Geology, Pamphlet 149. 

Farag, A.M., Woodward, D.F., Goldstein, J.N. et al. (1998) Concentrations of metals associated with mining waste in sediments, biofilm, benthic macroinvertebrates, and fish from the Coeur d Alene River Basin, Idaho. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 34(2), 119-27. 

Environmental damage associated with smelter lead emissions in the nineteenth century was recognized at least on a local level and would have produced some level of regional awareness. The NAS/NRA (2005) report on the scope, consequences, and remediation of the historical environmental lead contamination of the Coeur d Alene River Basin in Idaho noted multiple legal actions for damages taken by farmers and other residents along the river against Bunker Hill mill and smelter owners in the nineteenth century. 

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