Hecla Fined for Clean Water Act Violations at Lucky Friday Mine

The mine exceeded its permit limits for discharge of lead, zinc, cadmium, and total suspended solids between September 2008 and February 2009, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Since 1958, Hecla has owned and operated the Lucky Friday unit, a deep underground silver, lead and zinc mine located in the Coeur d’Alene Mining District of northern Idaho.

Discharges from the mine enter the South Fork Coeur d’Alene River.

In addition to assessing these civil penalties, the EPA has issued an administrative order to Hecla requiring the company to upgrade the Lucky Friday wastewater treatment system and achieve full compliance with its permit no later than June 1, 2009.

Hecla's Lucky Friday mine (Photo courtesy Hecla Mining)

The company will spend approximately $2.3 million to correct problems at its wastewater treatment plant, the EPA said Thursday.

“Unchecked industrial discharges have serious environmental consequences for our rivers, lakes and streams,” said Ed Kowalski, director of compliance and enforcement at EPA’s regional office.

“Compliance with wastewater permits is critical to protecting Idaho’s waterways. Bringing this facility into compliance and reducing the metals load is a significant step forward in protecting and restoring the South Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River.”

Water quality within the South Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River is severely degraded due to dissolved metals from historic mining activities.

Discharges from more than 100 years of silver mining in northern Idaho have flowed from South Fork Coeur d'Alene River into Lake Coeur d'Alene, then to the headwaters of the Spokane River, which flows into Washington state and eventually to the Columbia River.

Major tributaries are devoid of aquatic life due to high concentrations of dissolved metals such as zinc and cadmium, while other areas provide only partial support for fish and other aquatic species. The waters are suitable for migration but not for spawning and rearing.

The Lucky Friday operations are the most significant contributor of metals to the South Fork Coeur d’Alene River above Mullan, according to the EPA. The NPDES permit limits were developed to ensure that the discharges from the Lucky Friday operations are protective of fish and other aquatic life in the South Fork Coeur d’Alene River.

In 2003, the EPA approved a water quality standard for the South Fork Coeur d'Alene River that allows twice as much zinc and 12 times as much lead as the national standard.

The agency announced it would allow Idaho to use the state standard, based on local conditions in the river basin, rather than the national standard.

In 2008, EPA also withdrew the federal water quality standards designating cold water aquatic life uses for South Fork Coeur d'Alene River, saying that Idaho's water quality criteria provide sufficient protection for the aquatic life in this river.

The NPDES permit program controls water pollution by regulating point sources that discharge pollutants into the waters of the United States. Wastewater discharges from industrial sources, such as mining operations may contain pollutants at levels that could affect the quality of water bodies and waterways.

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