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===Pollution versus jobs=== [[File:Wallacepostcard c 1956.jpg|thumb|Downtown Wallace around 1956, old postcard]] By around 1930, residents downstream from the Coeur d'Alene mines were complaining about water and air pollution. Operators downplayed the issue, but did make a few process concessions. Then the ravages of the [[Great Depression]] virtually eliminated the issue for the duration. That was followed by the ramp-up to [[World War II]], which further kept the problems in the background. After the war, the metals industry in the region boomed, reaching a peak by around 1965. Process improvements continued but could not totally alleviate the effluent problems. And practically nothing was done about a half-century of pollution buildup.<ref name=Superfund>''Superfund and Mining Megasites: Lessons from the Coeur d'Alene River Basin.'' (2005). Washington, D. C: National Academies Press.</ref> Beginning in 1955, the U. S. Congress passed a series of air pollution laws, culminating in the [[Clean Air Act (United States)|Clean Air Act]] of 1970. That was followed two years later by the [[Clean Water Act|Federal Water Pollution Control Act]]. That and creation of the [[United States Environmental Protection Agency|Environmental Protection Agency]] (EPA) put heavy pressure on mining operations, including those in the Coeur d'Alenes. When the Bunker Hill smelter in [[Kellogg, Idaho|Kellogg]] shut down in 1981, the Silver Valley lost a vast number of jobs, three-quarters of all the regional mining employment by some estimates.<ref name=Superfund/> Wallace suffered huge cutbacks just like all the other towns in the area. Only the [[Lucky Friday mine]], located about seven miles east of Wallace, near [[Mullan, Idaho|Mullan]], remains in operation at this time.
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