08/12/09

CATALDO, Idaho (AP) _ A state plan to bury thousands of
truckloads of mining waste at a site in northern Idaho is drawing
opposition from residents and leaders of the Coeur d'Alene tribe.

The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality intends to dump
more than 40,000 loads of waste at the so-called East Mission Flats
repository. The 23-acre site is located in the Silver Valley near
the Sacred Heart Mission at Cataldo, the state's oldest building.

So far, more than 2,000 residents have signed petitions
objecting to the location. Leaders of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe,
whose ancestors built the ;mission with Jesuit priests in the
1850s, are also critics.

Contractors have already started work on the repository. The
state hopes to begin trucking material to the site by the end of
the month.
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Information from: The Spokesman-Review, http://www.spokesman.com

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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