BURKE — Construction crews with the Coeur d’Alene Work Trust are ramping up to begin construction at the Canyon Complex Repository/Waste Consolidation Area (CCR/WCA).

According to EPA Project Manager Bonnie Arthur, the new complex will be able to hold more than 1 million cubic yards of materials, including the 550,000 cubic yards of contaminated materials that currently sit in the nearby leaking SVNRT (aka the Lower Burke Canyon Repository).

Repositories and waste consolidation areas like this one reduce health risks from metals like lead and arsenic and the EPA expects the new facility to begin receiving mine waste materials this summer.

Once the waste materials are transferred from the SVNRT to the new site, additional work will be done to the new drainage system at the CCR and expand it into the old SVNRT site, which will allow for the repository to hold more waste materials.

“This repository gives us room for future cleanup projects in the Canyon Creek area,” Arthur said previously. “We have the Hecla Star Complex project set for 2022. We have several other projects up there as well. We appreciate how patient the community has been through all of this.”

The facility will be ready to take in mine waste from other mine and mill cleanup sites in the Canyon Creek area in 2023.

When finished, the new WCA will be able to hold about 1.8 million cubic yards of mine waste.

Work in the area will begin on April 26, and will run Monday through Friday, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. with no expected road closures through November.

Locals may notice a number of new signs around the project reminding people to avoid going onto private property where construction work is proceeding and heavy equipment is stored.

These signs will help protect public health and safety, and on-site construction equipment.

While signs will be posted, the EPA expects to keep the roads open unless there are problems with public safety or vandalism.

For more information or concerns, please contact Arthur at 206-553-4072.