Asbestos work part of local landscape

Vacuum hoses connecting attics to airtight blue boxes …

Workers in protective white suits …

Excavated yards and gardens surrounded with orange mesh fencing.

Neighborhood intrusion has taken a familiar form in Libby since the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's cleanup of asbestos-contaminated homes and businesses began in 2002.

This year, the EPA expects to finish cleanup of 170 homes. A total of 330 homes and business have been cleaned to date

Roughly 1,000 are left.

After news of death and disease linked to the W.R. Grace vermiculite mine in Libby made national headlines in late 1999, the EPA set up an office there and proceeded to inspect almost every residential and commercial property in Libby during 2002 and 2003.

Dust samples were taken indoors and outdoors as plans solidified for the most comprehensive asbestos cleanup ever undertaken.

Vermiculite mined at Libby by Grace was widely used in attics as insulation.

An estimated 30 million to 40 million homes nationwide have vermiculite insulation, and in Libby, where the material was readily available, it was used pervasively not only in home attics and walls but also in yards, gardens and ballfields.

Once the dust sampling was done, properties were placed into one of three broad categories: Those requiring cleanup, those not requiring cleanup, and those requiring additional study. In many homes, the EPA chose to leave the vermiculite in place if it's well-contained, such as inside a wall or a non-accessible attic space.

Cleanup is intrusive work, involving the displacement of families while the job is completed. Most cleanups range from three days to a month. Homeowners are housed in local motels and given a daily per diem during the displacement, said site manager Courtney Zamora.

Zamora is employed by the Volpe Center, a division of the federal Department of Transportation that is the conduit for contracting the cleanup.

"We do what the EPA tells us to do, basically," Zamora said.

Three restoration contractors - Environmental Restoration, Libby Restoration and MSC Environmental - bid on the cleanup work in blocks of 20 homes.

Some Libby residents have raised concerns about the potential for cost-cutting in a competitive bidding situation. It's a concern the EPA takes seriously, local project manager Jim Christiansen said.

"The EPA has tried to balance the difficult and complex issues surrounding cleanup," he said. "We're confident there are checks and balances in place to ensure that proper standards are met."

Lincoln County commissioners share the concern about cost cutting and also wonder how local workers will be affected with several contractors bidding on the projects.

"How the EPA contracts is confusing," Commissioner John Konzen said. "It's very tangling and bureaucratic, and all the decisions are made in an office in Boston."

The commissioners would like to see the cleanup progressing more rapidly, and they're worried about what happens if and when the federal money runs out. They meet with Christiansen once a month to discuss cleanup issues.

When the EPA intended to cut contractor wages from $20 to $14 an hour for cleanup specialists working in attics, the commissioners intervened, approached the Department of Labor and got the wages restored.

"They were going to cut costs on the back of labor," Konzen said.

At the cleanup sites, it's hard to please everyone, said Randy Brossman, a site supervisor for MARCOR Environmental, one of the Libby Restoration team members.

A Libby native who used to play in the piles of vermiculite, Brossman was taught to be a cleanup specialist through the Project Challenge job training program. He's grateful for the job opportunity.

"It's a good thing for all the local people," he said.

Many of the homeowners show up to watch the cleanup process.

"I try to appease them, but you can't please all of the people all of the time," Brossman said. "Some are demanding."

Yards are excavated to a depth of 12 inches; gardens are dug out 18 inches deep before new soil is added.

Cosmetic glitches, such as uneven sod in new landscaping, or nail "pops" that protrude from ceilings as a result of the attic work, are often the source for grumbling.

"We have a 90-plus satisfaction rating," Zamora noted, "but some homeowners are not happy. Sometimes it's elevated expectations we can't please.

"We're in someone's home and we need to make them as comfortable as possible," she added. "This is the most important thing I've ever done in my life."

Les Skramstad, an asbestos-disease victim who helped bring the plight of Libby to light, is unhappy with the cleanup that was done at his home.

"They did our house twice and totally missed upstairs above the bathroom," he said.

He and his wife, Norita, were displaced for nearly six weeks as crews cleaned and then recleaned the home. The first cleanup alone cost $125,000, and Skramstad remains disgruntled because the agency removed his old carpet and refused to pay for new carpeting. The EPA first proposed to clean the old carpet, then ripped it out when Skramstad raised questions about whether or not it could be adequately cleaned.

"It's a sore spot with me," he said. "They spend that kind of money and then won't pay for the carpet. So many things they do don't make sense."

High-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) vacuum cleaners are given to all property owners who undergo cleanup.

Christiansen expects the Libby cleanup to continue for another five to seven years - maybe more.

"It's not like we'll pick up stakes and leave," he said. "We're laying the foundation for a system to deal with this in the future."

To date, the EPA has spent roughly $90 million in Superfund money on cleanup in Libby, including homes, businesses and the large screening and processing sites left behind by Grace.

EPA has allocated $17 million annually to Libby cleanup for the next several years.

"That's a little short of what I've requested, but it keeps us on track," Christiansen said. "It's a pretty substantial commitment in tough budget times."

The EPA office has mailed fact sheets about living with vermiculite to everyone in Libby.

Is Libby ready to be advertised as safe?

"I'm willing to advertise Libby as a good place to live," Christiansen said. "There's no risk just being in Libby, but there are risks in homes that people need to be cognizant of."

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com