Spokane River Metals Murray Road

Contaminants from historic mining practices in Idaho’s Coeur d’Alene Basin washed downstream and settled in soil and sediment along some Spokane River beaches.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) studied mining contaminants in the Coeur d’Alene Basin and began a wide-spread cleanup of the Bunker Hill Mining and Metallurgical Superfund Site. As part of the EPA study and studies Ecology conducted, nine beaches in Washington were cleaned up, including Murray Road.

The Murray Road area is used for river recreation and is accessed from a trail on East River Road. The site covers nearly 1.5 acres on the north bank of the Spokane River. It is located at river mile 94.3 about 1.7 miles west of the Idaho border.

The mining-related contaminants include arsenic, cadmium, lead, and zinc.

Cleanup was completed in 2007:

• Contaminants were covered with sand and gravel creating a protective cap to limit human, wildlife, and fish exposure to lead, arsenic, cadmium, and zinc.  
• The footpath from the vehicle pull-out area to the river project area was enhanced.

Ecology completed the first periodic review in 2022. The report is for all the Spokane River shoreline sites affected by mining contaminants. The purposes of the review are to evaluate site conditions about every five years when contaminants are capped and ensure the cleanup continues to protect human health and the environment.

The cleanups continue to protect human health and the environment from the capped contaminated sediments. However, contaminant concentrations have increased in some cases, and new contaminated sediments have been deposited on the caps. This likely means upstream sources are continuing to impact the river and could pose a risk to human health and the environment if they are not controlled.

We will continue monitoring to ensure that the sites continue to be safe for human health and the environment. A monitoring study evaluating sediments entering the site at the Washington-Idaho border would help assess the potential for recontamination.