This resulted in extensive contamination of water, land and air, endangering residents including the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, which had traditionally depended on fish from the waterways as part of its subsistence.

In 1983 the United States Environmental Protection Agency added this area to the National Priorities List as a Superfund site for investigation and cleanup.

In 1991 the Coeur d'Alene Tribe filed suit against the mining companies for damages and cleanup costs; they were joined by the federal government in 1996 and the state of Idaho in 2011.

Phillip O'Rourke filed the Bunker Hill mining claim on 10 September 1885, located along the west side of Milo Creek.

Named after the Revolutionary War battle, the claim listed the date of discovery as 4 September, with Noah S. Kellogg as a witness.

Other claims followed, including the Last Chance by Charles Sweeny, the Stemwinder by George B. McAuley, and the Sierra Nevada by Van B. LeLashmutt.

Cooper of Murray, Idaho, a quarter interest in the Bunker Hill claim, since those two provided the ore-discovering jackass as a grubstake to Noah Kellogg.

John Hays Hammond was hired to manage the mine, and a new concentrator, The Old South Mill, became operational in 1891, capable of 150 tons per day.

[6] The Bunker Hill owners repeatedly refused to meet or negotiate with union representatives, leading to regular community protests.

On April 29, 1899, during a union demonstration, a group of workers hijacked a Northern Pacific train in Burke, Idaho and took it to Wardner.

[3]: 134, 144 In 1981, parent company Gulf Resources & Chemical Corp., which had acquired Bunker Hill in 1968, announced it would close the mine and smelter complex, citing low metal prices, lack of concentrates, and a stricter EPA lead limit of 1.5 micrograms for air quality.

At the time of its closure in 1982, the Bunker Hill lead smelter was the largest in the world, and the complex included a zinc plant and silver refinery.

[10] Many of the mine tailings were dumped directly into the Coeur d'Alene River and its tributaries, which became polluted with high levels of sulfur dioxide, lead, and other metals.

In an effort to reduce particles, the company installed a 14-unit Frederick Cottrell electrostatic precipitator, and 2800-bag baghouse to capture dust.

[3]: 92–94, 115 Prompted by a series of newspaper articles published in 1929, the Idaho State legislature formed the Coeur d'Alene River and Lake Commission in 1931.

Ellis of the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries determined the only solution to the pollution in the water system, and consequent lack of fish, was the complete exclusion of dumping mine wastes into the river.

In summary, though everyone, the company, the government, and the public, agreed tailings and smelter smoke polluted the region, the importance of the mine to the economy took precedent.

[2] Approximately 26% of the two-year-olds in the region had dangerously high levels of lead in their blood, which had long-term negative consequences for their health, especially intellectual functioning and achievement.

[11] Bunker Hill started employing women in the workforce again in 1972, which eventually included 30 in the smelter and 15 in the zinc plant, and the first to work underground.

[3]: 181, 199–200  This type of ban was later prohibited due to United Automobile Workers v. Johnson Controls, Inc., 499 U.S. 187 (1991), which was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States establishing that private sector policies prohibiting women from knowingly working in potentially hazardous occupations are discriminatory and in violation of Title VII and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978.

In April 1975, Bunker Hill stated that employees with blood lead levels higher than 80 micrograms per 0.1 liters, had 90 days to reduce them or be dismissed.

[3]: 179, 186, 188–190 In 1983, the Bunker Hill smelter was added to the National Priorities List as a Superfund site by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

"[15] The trustees intend to restore habitat for fish, birds and other natural resources, for stewardship while working for economic progress in the region.