After two seasons of closures due to remediation work at the former Panhandle Smelting and Refining Company — a.k.a. Black Rock — the Pend d’Oreille Bay Trail is now open through Sunday, Oct. 4.
Ponderay City Hall advised in a news release that the Bay Trail from Sandpoint to the gate is accessible, while the Black Rock project site will remain closed to the public beyond the gate and posted signage.
Crews started cleanup at Black Rock on April 7, working to remove or otherwise contain remnants from the slag heap generated by the smelter, which operated on the shoreline from 1907 to 1909.
A 2012 study found that a variety of heavy metals — a majority being lead — were present at the location in concentrations exceeding EPA residential screen levels. The concentrated levels were found at Black Rock as well as the soils where the then-defunct smelter structure remained until 1922.
“Black Rock” as seen from the Pend d’Oreille Bay Trail. Photo by Ben Olson.
Area residents have used Black Rock as a recreation site for a century, accessing it from Ponderay across the railroad tracks and, increasingly since its dedication in 2014, the 1.5-mile Pend d’Oreille Bay Trail.
The remediation project at Black Rock is intended to collect and remove the contaminated soils and bury them under a permanent subterranean repository. It also serves as the first phase of Ponderay’s Front Yard Project, which will create community green space and establish safe lakeshore access for Ponderay, in addition to making the Bay Trail a two-mile connecting route between Sandpoint and its immediate neighbor to the north.
For more details on the Front Yard Project, go to cityofponderay.org/the-front-yard-project.
Anticipated closures will be updated weekly to include known closures for the following week both at the city’s website and Facebook account.
“We thank you in advance for your patience as we complete this project and create a safe and more usable asset for the community,” Ponderay officials stated.
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