Silver Valley Community Resource Center (SVCRC), also known as Silver Valley Action ¹ is an environmentalist activist organization that advocates for environmentalist policies in the Silver Valley region of Idaho. ²

SVCRC receives funding from Resist ³ and supports the far-left concept of environmental justice. ⁴

History and Leadership

Silver Valley Community Resource Center ⁵ was founded in 1986. ⁶

Barbara Miller is the director of the Silver Valley Community Resource Center. ^{7 8} Miller has been the executive director of SVCRC since 1994 and is the co-founder of the environmentalist group Northwest Toxic Communities Coalition. ^{9 10}

Activities and Funding

Silver Valley Community Resource Center is an activist environmentalist organization that supports the far-left concept of environmental justice ¹¹ and advocates for environmentalist policies in the Silver Valley region of Idaho, located east of Spokane, Washington. ¹²

SVCRC works with labor unions, social service agencies, churches, and individual citizens to advocate for left-of-center policy positions on various issues including environmental policy, economic development and jobs, health care, housing, and homelessness. ¹³ It focuses on shutting down repositories for contaminated soils and other projects, replacing these facilities with permanent waste technology and funding a community lead health center. ¹⁴

Previously, SVCRC has claimed to have as many as 300 supporters. ¹⁵ In 2020, the organization supported efforts opposing increased use of facilities in the region, met with Idaho Governor Brad Little (R), opposed the use of waste dumps near the nation’s largest Superfund site, and supported the acquisition of settlement funds for individuals faced with chronic lead health conditions and exposure. ¹⁶

Policy Engagement

Silver Valley Community Resource Center opposes mining projects such as the Bunker Hill Superfund Site in Kellogg, Idaho, ¹⁷ and the Mission Repository. ¹⁸

In 2022, SVCRC supported the efforts of the left-of-center National Environmental Policy and Law Center (NELC) to push for a restrictive federal policy on mining and to take action on the Bunker Hill Superfund Site in the Coeur d’Alene River Basin. SVCRC collaborated with NELC on a letter to the Biden administration Department of Justice regarding this topic. ¹⁹

In December 2014, SVCRC urged its members to write to then-President Barack Obama to influence the Obama administration’s approach to various Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations governing heavy-metal cleanup. SVCRC also called for the EPA to close the Eastern Mission Flats Repository in 2012. The organization worked with the Sierra Club and Citizens for Health, Environment and Justice, Center for Justice, and others to pursue this policy. ²⁰

SVRC is a member of the environmentalist organization Waterkeeper Alliance ²¹ and the environmentalist Northwest Toxic Communities Coalition. ²² SVCRC is affiliated with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sub-agency the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. ²³

Previously, SVCRC officials worked with the United Steelworkers labor union on various economic issues to support what SVCRC referred to as a “blue-green alliance.” ²⁴

Funding

Silver Valley Community Resource Center has received funding from individual donations and grants. ²⁵ In 2020, Silver Valley Community Resource Center received a grant from left-wing activist group Resist. ²⁶

1. “Silver Valley Action.” Silver Valley Action Facebook Page. January 26, 2016. Accessed via Web Archive. April 27, 2024. https://m.facebook.com/people/Silver-Valley-Action/100068079602332/.
2. “Barbara Miller Profile.” Local Leadership, Leadership Online. July 19, 2008. Accessed April 27, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20080719164518/http://www.leadershiponlinewkkf.org/local/profile/miller.asp.
3. “Grantees.” Resist. Accessed April 27, 2024. https://resist.org/grantees/?keyword=silver+.
4. “Home.” Silver Valley Action Facebook Page. Accessed April 27, 2024. https://m.facebook.com/people/Silver-Valley-Action/100068079602332/.
5. “Silver Valley Action.” Silver Valley Action Facebook Page. January 26, 2016. Accessed via Web Archive. April 27, 2024. https://m.facebook.com/people/Silver-Valley-Action/100068079602332/.
6. “About Us.” Silver Valley Action. Accessed April 27, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20160126035035/http://silvervalleyaction.com/pb/wp_26d54343/wp_26d54343.html.
7. “Opinion.” Silver Valley Action. April 9, 2016. Accessed April 27, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20160409121919/http://silvervalleyaction.com/pb/wp_7226c8ab/wp_7226c8ab.html.
8. Barbara Miller.” LinkedIn Profile. Accessed April 27, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbara-miller-221261a/.
9. “Board.” Northwest Toxic Communities Coalition. Accessed April 27, 2024. https://nwtoxiccommunities.org/board/.
10. “Barbara Miller.” C-SPAN Archives. Accessed April 27, 2024. https://www.c-span.org/person/?1004339/BarbaraMiller
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12. “Barbara Miller Profile.” Local Leadership, Leadership Online. July 19, 2008. Accessed April 27, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20080719164518/http://www.leadershiponlinewkkf.org/local/profile/miller.asp.
13. “About Us.” Silver Valley Action. Accessed April 27, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20160126035035/http://silvervalleyaction.com/pb/wp_26d54343/wp_26d54343.html.
14. Hult, Kaye. “Silver Valley woman leads challenge to lead contamination in area.” The Fig Tree. February 2016. Accessed April 27, 2024. https://www.thefigtree.org/feb16/020116svmiller.html.
15. “Barbara Miller Profile.” Local Leadership, Leadership Online. July 19, 2008. Accessed April 27, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20080719164518/http://www.leadershiponlinewkkf.org/local/profile/miller.asp.
16. “Silver Valley Community Resource Center (SVCRC).” Fund for Idaho. Accessed April 27, 2024. https://fundforidaho.org/grantee/silver-valley-community-resource-center-svcrc/.
17. “Index.” Silver Valley Action. April 9, 2016. Accessed via Web Archive April 27, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20160409065515/http://silvervalleyaction.com/index.html.
18. “Opinion.” Silver Valley Action. Accessed April 27, 2024 https://web.archive.org/web/20160409121919/http://silvervalleyaction.com/pb/wp_7226c8ab/wp_7226c8ab.html.
19. “NELC asks DOJ to spur action on lead-contaminated Superfund site in Idaho.” National Environmental Law Center. July 16, 2022. Accessed April 27, 2024. https://www.nelc.org/news/nelc-asks-doj-to-spur-action-on-lead-contaminated-superfund-site-in-idaho/.
20. Dillon, Paul. “Silver Valley Community Resource Center calls for closure of East Mission Flats Repository.” The Spokesman-Review. March 21, 2012. Accessed April 27, 2024. https://www.spokesman.com/blogs/down-earth/2012/mar/21/silver-valley-community-resource-center-calls-closure-east-mission-flats-repository/
21. “About Us.” Silver Valley Action. Accessed April 27, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20160126035035/http://silvervalleyaction.com/pb/wp_26d54343/wp_26d54343.html
22. “Members.” Northwest Toxic Communities Coalition. Accessed April 27, 2024. https://nwtoxiccommunities.org/members/.
23. “Idaho.” Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Accessed April 27, 2024. https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/soilshop/Idaho.html.
24. “Index.” Silver Valley Community Resource Center. April 9, 2016. Accessed via Web Archive April 27, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20160409065515/http:/silvervalleyaction.com/index.html.
25. “Silver Valley Action.” Silver Valley Action. April 9, 2016. Accessed via Web Archive April 27, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20160409130148/http://silvervalleyaction.com/pb/wp_174d2d38/wp_174d2d38.html.
26. “Grantees.” Resist. Accessed April 27, 2024. https://resist.org/grantees/?keyword=silver+.