Study launched of contaminated Evergreen sites
The Montana Department of Environmental Quality has launched a comprehensive study of contamination in the Evergreen area that was funded in this year's legislative session.
The $1.25 million "investigation and evaluation of cleanup alternatives" at an industrial area behind Office Max on Flathead Drive is to be finished in two years.
It is expected to provide details of the extent of contamination from operations, dating back to the 1930s, at three sites that were occupied by Kalispell Pole & Timber, Reliance Refinery Co. and Yale Oil Corporation.
The three sites are close to the Stillwater River and residential areas.
According to the state agency, the shallow groundwater underneath the sites is contaminated with pentachlorophenol, dioxins/furans and petroleum hydrocarbons.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Montana Department of Health and Environmental Sciences (the predecessor to the DEQ), and others had previously investigated the contamination.
But those studies were considered "limited in scope and did not address all areas of concern," according to a state press release.
The Kalispell Pole and Timber facility, partially owned by Burlington Northern Santa Fe, was a wood-treating facility that operated from about 1945 to 1990. Soils at the Kalispell Pole and Timber site are contaminated with pentachlorophenol, dioxins/furans, and petroleum hydrocarbons.
The Reliance Refinery facility, partially owned by the state of Montana and administered by the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, involved an oil refinery that operated from 1924 to the 1960s. Soils at that site are contaminated primarily with petroleum hydrocarbons and metals, including lead.
Yale Oil operated a petroleum bulk plant and product refinery from 1938 to 1978.
Rep. Jon Sonju, R-Kalispell, was among local lawmakers who supported the study in the interest of finally bringing about a cleanup at the industrial sites.
"The past record of the DEQ combined with the DNRC has not been a very good one in regards to addressing this problem," Sonju said. "I will continue to be involved because I don't want to keep studying this problem at the taxpayers expense but rather I want to see the site cleaned up."
Sonju said he hopes to pursue legislation in 2007 that would allow the state's industrial "orphan fund" to pay for all cleanup costs, rather than requiring current site owners to pay for the cleanup.
Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com.