Press Releases and Announcements
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 6, 2026
CITY OF PONDERAY TO BEGIN REMEDIATION WORK AT THE HISTORIC PANHANDLE SMELTING AND REFINING COMPANY SITE, LOCALLY KNOW AS BLACK ROCK.
PONDERAY, ID – Big things are happening in Ponderay this week as they kick off construction to remediate contamination at the “Black Rock” site on April 7th. This important health and safety project will be the first phase of the city’s Front Yard Project to be completed and will result in a safe and clean community green space that honors the history of the site. However, as with any construction there will be some inconveniences while the work is completed.
For more than one hundred years, residents of Bonner County have visited this site for recreation and family gatherings. “Black Rock” is actually slag that was created by the former Panhandle Smelting and Refining Company smelter that operated in the early 1900’s. The slag and soils around it are contaminated with unsafe levels of heavy metals. This project will remove the contaminated soils and entomb them permanently in an encapsulated repository. This project will not remove the iconic “Black Rock” but it will cap it with a lookalike concrete cap and add safety railing. A breakwater will be installed to stop the waves from beating up against “Black Rock” and provide a viewpoint for visitors. Director Miller stated “All remaining historical features on the site will be preserved and enhanced. The project will make them more visible for visitors and the new internal trail system will lead users along the historic sites where there will be informational signage.”
“The initial phase of construction will be a drastic visual change for those on the lake as the vegetation is removed to expose the contaminated soils for remediation. However, at the conclusion of the project the site will be replanted using native plants and will include reestablishing the purple lupine that bloom there each spring”, said Miller.
Since 2020 when the city was awarded an EPA Brownfields Multipurpose Grant they have been working closely behind the scenes with Alta Science and Engineering, DEQ and the EPA to design a project that ensures the health and safety of the community and in the end creates a community asset that is consistent with how the public has historically used the site.
As with any construction project, the work will include some inconveniences for the public while the remediation is completed. After years of exploring alternatives, the project team determined that the only viable option to move equipment and clean materials into the site was down the Pend d’ Oreille Bay Trail. “Unfortunately, intermittent trail closures will be a necessary part of this project for the safety of the trail users. People and dump trucks don’t mix. We’ve directed the contractor to condense the number of days that they import materials in an effort to minimize the trail closures as much as possible,” said Ponderay Planning Director KayLeigh Miller. Upon completion of the project, the trail will not only be extended, but the existing trail will also be refreshed on the way out ensuring that any damage caused by the project is repaired. An anticipated trail closure schedule will be posted weekly on the city social media and website under the news and events category.
The Panhandle Smelting and Refining Company site, commonly known as Black Rock, was constructed in the early 1900’s along the shoreline of Lake Pend Oreille. While the historic smelter only operated sporadically between 1907 and 1909 it left a lasting impact on the community in the form of heavy metal contamination (primarily lead) throughout the site. Luckily the contamination has not impacted the water quality of the lake.
In 2012, a study revealed heavy metals (mostly lead) at concentrations exceed EPA Residential Screen Levels (RLS’s). The concentrated levels were found to exist not only in Black Rock itself but throughout the soils where the smelter resided until 1922. Since that time, the city and Department of Environmental Quality have worked hand in hand to educate the public on the dangers of the contamination, while simultaneously searching for funding to remediate the area to remove contaminates, creating a clean safe space for the community to enjoy.
To learn more about this project visit https://cityofponderay.org/the-front-yard-project/. Please contact Ponderay City Hall at 208-265-5468 or by email at [email protected] ###