SANDPOINT — With the approval of a memorandum of agreement with Sandpoint on Wednesday evening, the city of Ponderay is able to begin its Black Rock clean-up project next week.

KayLeigh Miller, Ponderay’s planning director, said the project will keep the slag pile, nicknamed Black Rock by the community, and extend the existing Pend d’Oreille Bay Trail in front of and around the stone. The MOA will allow for Ponderay’s workers to access Sandpoint’s water treatment plant, which contains the only vehicular access  

“This is the first step towards our brighter project that we've been working on,” Miller said the clean-up project. “Hopefully we'll find funding for the underpass and be able to put these together.” 

The project is funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s brownfields grant and will remove the contaminated soil and place it in fabric away from the trail to make the area safe for residents to recreate. On top of the contaminated soil, fresh soil and a garden will be place, in the hopes to deter anyone from digging up the removed dirt. 

This project has been in the works for several years and is expected to be from April 7 until Aug. 31, Miller said.  

“At the Black Rock site itself, we have to remove all the vegetation as part of the cleanup, and then we'll be replanting that back in with grass and starting to grow with trees and native vegetation,” Miller said. “Bringing back the lupins and some of those things that are more common to that site and being consistent with that.” 

As a part of the construction, crews will be closing the trail for several days throughout the spring and summer. Ponderay will be posting a weekly schedule once the project begins with anticipated trail closures on its website, cityofponderay.org, 

Miller said when the trails are closed, there will be signage and equipment parked at the trail head to ensure the residents know the trail is closed. 

“My understanding is that their contractor is working to minimize closures to the extent possible, but particularly when they're hauling and they have very heavy hauling days, it's not safe to have the public on the trail,” Ellis said.  

More information about the project can be found at cityofponderay.org/the-front-yard-project. 

    A view from the Pend d'Oreille Bay Trail.
  

    A layout of the Black Rock clean-up project.