SANDPOINT — The City Council took a stand Wednesday in opposition to the proposed silicon smelter south of Newport.

The decision to oppose the project cleared the council on a 4-0 vote and was greeted with a round of applause from city and Bonner County residents who offered testimony as the city groomed their formal remarks for the Washington Department of Ecology’s scoping process for the proposed smelter.

Eight people testified before the council and they were unanimous in their position that a silicon smelter is a recipe for a disaster due to the potential impacts to the air and water quality, the tourism economy and public health.

Craig Simpson, a local musician and business owner, lived downstream from a smelter in Trail, British Columbia, and said tainted effluent from the facility was plainly visible in the Pend Oreille River.

“I saw the destruction,” said Simpson, who believes he contracted cancer from eating pollution-contaminated fish in the river.

Sandpoint resident Constance Albrecht said Washington state’s support of the smelter has put momentum behind the proposal while the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality is “sitting on their hands.”

“Essentially, we’re going to get the impacts and Washington is going to get the taxes,” Albrecht told the council.

Elizabeth Iha, who performed a rap complete with beatboxing, supported the council’s resolution, but urged the panel to take the position a step further.

“Openly oppose it right now,” Iha suggested.

Councilwoman Shannon Williamson ultimately adopted the suggestion and her amendment passed on a 4-0 vote.

The scoping remarks also call upon DOE to require adequate analyses of impacts to air quality, water quality, transportation and noise. The city is also calling for a one-year meteorologic study to assess how local weather patterns will influence how pollution is distributed, in addition to consideration of a no-action alternative or an alternative site that will not impact Sandpoint. The council also added that the project could undermine decades of effort the city has expended in reducing the amount of ultra-fine particulates.

Councilwoman Deb Ruehle said the smelter could also damage or destroy one of the area’s biggest lures — the quality of life.

“It’s a huge reason,” Ruehle said of what draws individuals and businesses to the area.

Mayor Shelby Rognstad, meanwhile, was urged for language in the comments that provides for an effective way to address water pollution that goes beyond fines, which can be less expensive than making meaningful changes to halt the pollution.

“The same happens with air pollution as well,” Rognstad said.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.