Libby cleanup hits $107 million
So far, 570 of 1,400 area's homes cleaned
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is wrapping up another year of asbestos removal in Libby, where the agency has spent roughly $107 million since cleanup began three years ago.
Restoration contractors removed asbestos from 227 contaminated homes this year, exceeding the federal agency's goal of 170 homes. Of the 1,400 Libby and Troy homes identified as contaminated, 570 have been cleaned to date, EPA project manager Peggy Churchill said.
This year, cleanup of several downtown businesses was completed, along with asbestos removal from the county-owned J. Neils Park.
"We also completed the Stimson [Lumber] central maintenance building," Churchill said.
"That was the biggest project of the year."
After news of death and disease linked to the former W.R. Grace & Co. vermiculite mine in Libby made national headlines in late 1999, the EPA set up an office there and inspected most residential and commercial properties 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 2 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 was well contained, such as inside a wall or a closed attic space.
Cleanup is intrusive work, involving the displacement of families while the job is completed. The cost averages $25,000 to $30,000 per home.
The agency's cleanup goal for 2006 is 170 homes, but starting next year the EPA will move into a remedial cleanup program that will shift the asbestos-removal focus from emergency response to long-term cleanup, Churchill said.
EPA's Libby team leader, Jim Christiansen, is spending all his time writing a remedial investigation feasibility study for Libby, and Mike Cirian was recently hired as the remedial project manager.
Once the long-term cleanup plan is drafted, the public will have 30 days to comment. Churchill expects that to happen in spring or early summer 2006.
The Libby golf course, a stretch of Montana 37 and the former Stimson tree nursery are among the projects awaiting remedial work.
"There are areas like that we need to address, but they didn't meet [the criteria of] the emergency plan," Churchill said.
The federal agency said it would allocate $17 million annually to Libby cleanup for the next few years, but the money guarantee is good only through 2006.
"We know we'll have the usual $17 million next year," Churchill said. "After that we'll continue to request the money."
Cleanup is expected to continue for another four to five years.
Restoration crews will take a couple of months off this winter and resume work by the end of February.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week upheld an order requiring Grace to pay the EPA $54.5 million for asbestos cleanup in Libby, plus future cleanup costs. The ruling is welcome news, Churchill said, but since Grace filed for bankruptcy in 2001, the government can't count on the money just yet.
Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com