Specialist sought for asbestos issues

LIBBY - The Technical Advisory Group is pushing to improve procedures at both the county and city level to avoid vermiculite spills such as the one that occurred during remodeling at the Country Pizza building last month.

The city had issued a building permit for remodeling work to the owner of Country Pizza's building. He began moving vermiculite attic insulation and the resulting dust covered the pizza restaurant downstairs, forcing the Environmental Protection Agency to clean the restaurant before it could reopen.

The advisory group wants to create a community resource specialist to respond to similar problems with homeowners and commercial building owners after the EPA completes the Superfund cleanup and leaves the area.

At a recent meeting, advisory group members said the community shouldn't wait until the EPA leaves but begin instituting a program now that includes rules and regulations to keep people from uncovering asbestos-contaminated vermiculite and exposing themselves, their families and the public to toxic tremolite asbestos dust.

Committee members agreed the effort starts with public education.

"We just want to make sure what happened to Country Pizza doesn't happen again," Jan Meadows said.

"We want to make sure everyone in Libby understands you just can't start digging holes and pushing things around."

An advisory group subcommittee is working on a presentation for the county.

The city already has shown interest in a community resource specialist.

EPA representative Peggy Churchill said a consensus with the city and county should be reached.

The EPA is encouraging the community resource idea and has offered to provide funding.

"That is where we are going," said Gayla Benefield, advisory group chairwoman. "The CRS position is needed."

Gerry Henningsen, the technical adviser hired by the advisory group in September, has recommended bringing Tom Dunlop, director of the Aspen-Pitkin County Environmental Health Department, to Libby.

Dunlop was involved in writing rules and regulations for the Colorado city and county during Superfund cleanup of an old mine.

"Dunlop has traveled around talking to communities about operations and management that is the least imposing on cities after the EPA leaves town," Henningsen said via a teleconference call. "He has a unique way of motivating people."

Churchill noted that initial EPA samples of the dust in Country Pizza have come back clean. While the situation hasn't been good for the restaurant's owner, there has been some benefit from the episode.

"Thinking about this has brought the problem to people's attention," she said. "That was good."

The owner of the building came to the EPA intially and the federal agency asked him to wait on the remodeling, but he said he couldn't, Churchill said.

He was not in violation of current regulations.

"There's a real fine line there," Churchill said. "We just want to work with people."

Advisory group board member Les Skramstad said too much vermiculite is being left behind in walls, beneath buildings and lawns and at the mine site. That represents continuing problems for the community and a safety problem, he said.

"Anything we leave behind is just prolonging the agony," Skramstad said. "Here we are poking holes in the air with our fingers saying we're doing a nice job but it's still out there. There's a mountain of it out in the open up there."

LeRoy Thom pointed out that the technical adviser will help the community make the argument for removal or "what we can do to make it safer."

Dr. Brad Black agreed but warned about closing the door on cleanup if the science supports it.

"It takes time," Benefield said. "We're technically treading water but getting ahead a little every day."

The next advisory group meeting is Dec. 6. Henningsen is tentatively scheduled to attend that meeting.