Health Board takes a breather on air rules
People complain about road dust all the time, but only a handful showed up Thursday to support doing something about it.
People complain about road dust all the time, but only a handful showed up Thursday to support doing something about it.
They may not have permanently lost their opportunities to address the issue, though.
After hearing from almost 30 people at its regular monthly meeting, the Flathead City-County Health Board deferred action on a series of amendments to the countys air quality control regulations.
More than 60 people attended the typically low-profile meeting.
Most speakers encouraged the board to reconsider the amendments, which would have required paving or dust mitigation for high-volume gravel roads.
Paving would also be required for all new roads with average traffic volumes of more than 50 vehicles a day, and dust mitigation would be required for all commercial and construction hauling activity involving more than 40 cubic yards of material.
The amendments also proposed expanding the air quality nonattainment districts around Kalispell, Whitefish and Columbia Falls, and would have increased the penalty for air quality violations from $500 to as much as $10,000.
Even speakers who wanted something done about road dust werent sure this was the right approach.
Im glad to see this issue coming to the forefront, said Jeff Hutten, who lives on Truman Creek Road. Im not positive this is the way to go about it, but something has to be done. The dust problem on county roads is enormous. A lot of us cant live with it any more. I commend the board and [Public Health Officer] Joe Russell for bringing this up.
Others werent so polite, accusing the board of attempting to create a new police bureaucracy or trying to stymie gravel pits and commercial growth in the valley.
Several industry representatives, however, offered remarks about potential flaws with this proposal.
Alrick Hale, general manager of JTL Group, suggested that requiring dust mitigation based on how much material is being hauled was inappropriate.
We live by the phone, Hale said. We get calls all the time to deliver sand and gravel to a particular road. We dont know the condition of the road ahead of time, so wed have to send someone up to check the conditions, then send a water truck. To me, thats not a workable regulation.
Ron Buentemeier, vice president of F.H. Stoltze Land and Lumber Co., said expanding the nonattainment area around Whitefish could force the company to consider other options for its land.
The expansion would subject several parcels of Stoltze land to much tighter restrictions, Buentemeier said. For example, an air-quality control permit would be required just to clear a small work area for logging operations, and that permit would be subject to costly and time-consuming public notice and protest provisions.
Nonattainment areas also require paving for new roads.
I can tell you, I wont be growing trees if you require me to pave roads. That will be development land very soon, Buentemeier said. I would encourage you to back away from this proposal and review it some more. Lets get a committee together and try to find a solution.
Several speakers questioned whether scientific evidence existed to support the idea that dust is even a health hazard.
Its a nuisance, but to elevate it to the level of a health hazard is a big step, said Jeff Larsen, a civil engineer and vice president of the Montana Environmental Consulting Organization.
Larsen said the Health Board should go back to the drawing board and gather more input before proceeding with these regulations.
The board agreed, saying it would defer action to hold more public hearings and gather more suggestions for ways to resolve the road-dust issue.
Reporter Bill Spence may be reached at 758-4459 or by e-mail at bspence@dailyinterlake.com.