Agricultural field burning could resume in Idaho as early as September under a rule to be published Friday by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. As part of the official request for EPA to approve the action, the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality conducted a detailed analysis that demonstrated that the revised plan satisfied federal Clean Air Act requirements.

EPA Environmental Scientist Mike McGown says DEQ’s management plan meets federal standards and takes into account the concerns of both clean air advocates and agricultural interests.

EPA Environmental Scientist Mike McGown comments

Mary Anderson, Idaho DEQ Smoke Management Coordinator says several new requirements have been implemented in the new burning plan.

Mary Anderson, Idaho DEQ Smoke Management Coordinator comments

Burn days will be limited to weekdays during daylight hours only – usually from 10am to 4pm. Burning on weekends and holidays is prohibited.

To register visit DEQ’s website at www.deq.idaho.gov. For additional information contact the DEQ Office in Boise at (208) 373-0502.

Federal investigators say a former tenant of a Boise apartment complex may be the source for the mercury that prompted a full-scale cleanup now in its seventh day.

Environmental Protection Agency crews began removing the hazardous metal last week after children were found playing with it outside the complex. Officials estimate they have recovered between 12 and 14 ounces of mercury, and on Tuesday began ripping up a concrete driveway and sidewalk to lower mercury levels.

EPA officials say the search continues for the former tenant neighbors contend had mercury, a poison especially harmful to children.

The cleanup could cost between $100,000 and $200,000. (AP)

The state of Idaho and the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, with a boost from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, have released a sweeping management plan aimed at preserving the water quality of Lake Coeur d’Alene.

Silver mining and smelting up the Coeur d’Alene River in the past century washed an estimated 75 million tons of cadmium, lead, zinc, arsenic and other heavy metals into the river and then into the lake, where they settled on the bottom.

When the federal government declared the Silver Valley a Superfund site for cleanup, alarmed business leaders and politicians, fearing a tourist backlash, had the lake excluded from the designation. That triggered years of negotiations by the EPA, the state and the tribe on a plan to prevent additional pollution. The EPA served primarily as a mediator over the past two years in the negotiations.

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The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality is submitting to Environmental Protection Agency the revision to the State Implementation Plan for a new crop residue burning program in Idaho.

Field burning has been prohibited in Idaho since January 2007 as a result of a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling.

DEQ accepted comments on the proposed revision to the SIP earlier this year, and DEQ Air Quality Program Manager Robert Wilcosz says after addressing all comments, the department has finalized the SIP revision.

Program Manager Robert Wilcosz comments

The program was developed by a negotiating committee comprised of representatives of DEQ, Idaho State Department of Agriculture, Safe Air for Everyone, the Idaho Farm Bureau, grain and grass growers, Tribes, and others. Under the agreement, DEQ will administer the program, and the ISDA will play an advisory role.

Wilcosz continues

The revision to the SIP must be approved by the EPA before it can take effect. If that occurs soon, field burning could resume in late-summer or early-fall. Until then, no field burning is allowed.

The SIP revision is available at DEQ’s State Office and in PDF format on DEQ’s Web site at www.deq.idaho.gov.