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==In popular culture== The [[1997 in film|1997]] film ''[[Dante's Peak]]'' was shot on location in Wallace, which was portrayed as the fictional town "Dante's Peak" in [[Washington (state)|Washington state]], with a large hill just southeast of the town digitally altered to look like a volcano.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spokesman.com/stories/1996/aug/04/thats-a-wrap-after-a-summer-of-filming-in-wallace/|title=That's A Wrap After A Summer Of Filming In Wallace, Idaho, 'Dante's Peak' Heads Back To L.A.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spokesman.com/stories/1997/feb/09/wallaces-peek-residents-extras-view-dantes-peak/|title=Wallace's Peek Residents, Extras View 'Dante's Peak' At Champagne Gala And Premiere}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1310&dat=19960731&id=u0lWAAAAIBAJ&pg=6445,7801159&hl=en|title=Eugene Register-Guard - Google News Archive Search}}</ref> On September 25, 2004, Mayor Ron Garitone proclaimed Wallace to be the center of the [[Universe]] in a tongue-in-cheek political statement aimed at the [[United States Environmental Protection Agency|EPA]]. Specifically, a sewer access cover was declared to be the precise location of the "Center of the Universe." This declaration was a humorous jab at the EPA's reliance on "probabilism," a theory the agency employed when declaring Wallace a [[Superfund]] site. During their assessment, the EPA announced that local water and soil were contaminated, potentially due to mining activities. However, they admitted they could not definitively prove whether the lead contamination was from ongoing mining operations or naturally occurring. Using probabilistic reasoning, they expanded the Superfund site from 21 square miles to 1,500 square miles, significantly devaluing local properties and businesses. The EPA's assessment controversially treated [[lead(II) sulfide|lead sulfide]], a less harmful and less bioavailable form of lead, as equivalent to [[lead poisoning|pure lead]], further fueling local criticism of the [[Superfund]] designation. For example, lead sulfide bioavailability in some animal studies is estimated to be 50 to 100 times lower than that of soluble lead salts.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schroeder |first1=HA |title=Comparison of lead bioavailability in F344 rats fed lead acetate, lead oxide, lead sulfide, or lead ore concentrate |journal=Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health |volume=18 |issue=5 |pages=533–544 |year=1994 |doi=10.1080/10937404.1994.11024667 }}</ref> In response, the Center of the Universe manhole cover was designed and installed to symbolize Wallace's resilience and mining heritage. It bears the inscription "Center of the Universe. Wallace, Idaho" and includes four sets of initials—HL, CDE, SRLM, and BHM—representing four major mining companies that shaped the region: Hecla Mining, Coeur d’Alene Precious Metals, Sunshine Silver Mine, and Bunker Hill Mining Company. This act of defiance also paid homage to Wallace's mining legacy, which dates back to 1884 and has yielded over 1.2 billion ounces of silver, earning the town the title "Silver Capital of the World." This whimsical declaration also inspired British comedian and writer [[Danny Wallace (humorist)|Danny Wallace]] to visit Wallace, leading to his book ''[[Danny Wallace and the Centre of the Universe]]'', published in 2006. The event continues to be celebrated annually on the third Saturday of September.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wallace-id.com/centeroftheuniverse.html|title=The Center of the Universe is in Historic Wallace Idaho}}</ref>
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