It isn't that Ed Moreen thinks the Coeur d'Alene River should be avoided entirely, come tourist season.

But he sure wouldn't suggest fashioning dirt castles on the shore.

That's because of health risks from the prevalent deposits of lead and other heavy metals on the riverbed and banks, the result of a century of mining waste dumped upstream.

"I certainly wouldn't let my children play in the mud," said Moreen, project manager with the Environmental Protection Agency's Coeur d'Alene Office. "If you're kicking up sediment (in the river), you're kicking up sediment with a high concentration of lead in it."

Measurements show lead concentrations in the Lower Coeur d'Alene Basin are high enough to pose risk to humans and wildlife, Moreen explained on Monday at a media meeting.

The average lead concentration in the Coeur d'Alene River bed is 4,000 mg/kg, Moreen said.

"That's well above the threshold where we're concerned about human health," he said, putting that threshold at 720 mg/kg.

The threshold for waterfowl is 530 mg/kg, he added.

The Lower Basin includes the stretch of Coeur d'Alene River from Enaville to Harrison that eventually flows into Lake Coeur d'Alene.

Eroded contaminated materials are carried throughout the basin by floodwaters every year. Most of the lakes, wetlands and floodplain in the Lower Basin are contaminated.

If the lead levels aren't addressed, we all know where the contaminated sediment ends up, Moreen pointed out.

"Eventually it will all continue to get pushed to the lake," he said, speaking in the EPA Coeur d'Alene Field Office. "The ultimate result of doing nothing is that."

So the EPA plans to pursue pilot projects in the Lower Basin to address exposure to - and sources of - pervasive contaminants.

The agency has roughly $4.5 million set aside for small projects testing which remedies best address the issue, he said.

Based on the challenges and successes of those projects, the EPA hopes to eventually expand them into larger scale solutions, said Bill Adams, EPA project manager.

"We want to make sure we're doing the right things at the right locations," Adams said, speaking over the phone from the EPA Seattle office on Monday. "The pilot projects allow us to do just that."

People have a chance to shape how those projects will look.

Two public forums will be held on Wednesday covering potential pilot projects for the river.

People will be encouraged to submit forms with their own project proposals.

"People have expressed frustration. They want to be involved in the process earlier," Moreen said of basin cleanup work. "They want to be involved before we make significant decisions."

The first forum is scheduled from 2-4 p.m. on Wednesday at the Rose Lake Community Center, and will be hosted by the Lower Basin Project Focus Team. The second, hosted by the Citizens Coordinating Council, is slated for 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday at the Medimont Grange.

Project proposals will be evaluated based on myriad criteria. Those include: how a project achieves cleanup goals, how easily it can be implemented, whether it's cost effective.

Projects should be able to expand to a full-scale application.

The EPA's own project ideas include beach and bank replacement, and engineering to limit floodwaters and contaminated sediment from entering lakes and wetlands.

The agency is also considering limiting migration of contaminated sediment along the river bed, and preventing waterfowl from feeding in the most contaminated areas.

If folks can't attend the forums, more information is available at: yosemite.epa.gov/R10/CLEANUP.NSF/sites/cda. The project proposal form is available on the site.

For more information, call Moreen at 664-4588.

Tackling the whole issue by dredging the river isn't feasible, Moreen noted.

Even if certain banks are cleaned, he acknowledged, they will likely be recontaminated again when high water levels sweep in more heavy metals.

But the goal is to reduce exposure now, while the agency pinpoints sources to target, he said.

"These are baby steps toward larger things," Moreen said.

If you go

Public forums about contaminant reduction in the Lower Basin are scheduled for: 2-4 p.m. on Wednesday at the Rose Lake Community Center, then 6-8 p.m. at Medimont Grange.