Natural Resources and Society
Chloe Wardropper, an assistant professor of Human Dimensions of Ecosystem Management in the University of Idaho’s Department of Natural Resources and Society, is helping health agencies find new ways to construct messaging about lead contamination in the Silver Valley.
Contamination Communication U OF I TEAM ASSISTS WITH SILVER VALLEY HEALTH RISK MESSAGES
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By Ralph Bartholdt
lmost 40 years after Superfund clean-up efforts began for heavy metal contamination in North Idaho’s Silver Valley, officials still worry that many residents and visitors have not gotten the message about the negative health consequences of lead toxicity.
With the help of a research team led by Chloe Wardropper, an assistant professor of Human Dimensions of Ecosystem Management in the University of Idaho’s Department of Natural Resources and Society, health agencies are finding new ways to construct messaging to better target an array of demographics. “This region of northern Idaho is affected by health disparities – on average, it has an older population and worse health outcomes are documented here,” Wardropper said. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1983 designated a 21-square-mile area around the Silver Valley’s Bunker Hill lead smelter as a Superfund site. Since then, mining companies have paid $700 million for the cleanup that included replacing soil and sod in 7,000 residential yards, capping boat launches and cleaning the nearby South Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River. But many Silver Valley residents have not taken actions to reduce health risks associated with exposure to heavy metal contamination resulting from the valley’s mining industry, Wardropper said, and new residents and visitors are often not aware of the potential hazards. Using a hands-on approach that includes door-to-door surveys in communities such as Kellogg and Pinehurst — which were most affected by contamination — Wardropper and her team are
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WINTER 2020 - 21
