The Steelworkers have been invited to join this rally Saturday in Riverfront Park.
Cantwell to address river cleanup rally
Event puts Spokane River, beach pollution in spotlight
Karen Dorn Steele - Staff writer
Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., will speak Saturday at a public rally in Riverfront Park to call attention to mining pollution in the Spokane River.
The "Rally for the River" starts at noon in Riverfront Park's Gondola Meadows.
The Lands Council, a Spokane environmental group, is organizing the event as part of its "Get the Lead Out" campaign for a river cleanup.
The Spokane Tribe's Elder Drums and Native American songwriter Jim Boyd will perform, and the Spokane Mountaineers and Friends of the Centennial Trail will conduct nature tours along the river.
Recent state and federal scientific surveys have confirmed that lead, arsenic and other wastes from Idaho's historic mining operations have contaminated Spokane River beaches in the valley.
The heavy metals, along with PCBs from industrial and municipal sources, have also backed up behind Upriver Dam.
The Spokane Regional Health District has posted signs at some of the beaches warning people to limit their exposure to sand and dust.
"The fact that families now have to worry about tracking home sand from the beaches or inhaling dust is totally unacceptable. The Spokane River deserves our help," said Judith Gilmore, the council's executive director.
In March, state regulators also warned people not to eat rainbow trout or mountain whitefish caught between Upriver Dam and the Idaho state line because they contain high concentrations of PCBs and elevated lead levels.
The Spokane River is the first freshwater river in the state to warrant such a stringent restriction on fish consumption.
For further information about the rally, contact the Lands Council at 838-4912.