Health board ready to tackle road-dust issue

Flathead County officials field hundreds of complaints about road dust every year, but have done little to address the issue.

The commissioners typically listen to these grievances with a sympathetic ear. However, they say there isn't enough money to pave all the gravel roads; efforts to force subdivision developers to solve the problem have also met with limited success.

That could soon change.

The Flathead City-County Board of Health is currently considering two amendments that would put some teeth in the local air pollution control regulations with regard to road dust.

One amendment would require paving or dust mitigation for any road that has an average traffic volume greater than 200 vehicles per day.

Paving also would be required for all new roads that have projected traffic volumes greater than 50 vehicles per day - a threshold that would be triggered by just five residential lots, according to standard traffic estimates used by the county planning office.

The second amendment would require dust mitigation for any commercial or construction activity that involves hauling more than 40 cubic yards of material, or about four dump-truck loads.

"I think the board will adopt these amendments within the next month," said Joe Russell, director of the health department, which is responsible for

administering the pollution control regulations.

Before the amendments take effect, they would have to be approved by city and county officials - including the county commissioners - as well as the Montana Board of Environmental Review. Each entity would need to hold a public hearing before voting on the proposal.

However, "if all goes well, we could have these [regulations] in place by the time construction starts next spring," Russell said.

It's unclear, though, whether the commissioners will approve a regulation that's sure to cost the county a substantial amount of money.

Russell said the paving requirement would apply to whichever entity is responsible for the road - and the main owner of high-volume unpaved roads around here is Flathead County.

Consequently, the county would either have to pave dozens of gravel roads or at least come up with a formal "compliance plan" that spells out how dust would be controlled.

"The compliance plan could preclude the county from ever paving these roads, but the Board of Health would have to deem the plan appropriate for controlling dust," Russell said.

County Road Superintendent Charlie Johnson was unavailable for comment on Friday. However, information on the department Web site indicates that about 50 county roads have traffic counts that exceed 200 vehicles per day, at least on some sections.

The cumulative mileage involved in these sections was unavailable.

Johnson has previously indicated that paving a gravel road costs roughly $90,000 per mile, assuming it's in good condition to begin with. That estimate was provided prior to the recent run-up in oil prices.

During an interview last spring, Johnson suggested it would take a combination of new revenue sources - such as higher gas taxes, special improvement districts and impact fees - to deal with the dust issue effectively.

"We know we have a problem," he said. "We're all sitting around the campfire waiting for a popular solution, but it isn't going to be popular. It's going to be expensive and unpopular."

Road dust is one of the more common sources of air pollution in the Flathead. Information included in the proposed amendments indicates that, at the 200-trip-per-day threshold, a one-mile section of gravel road "could generate 438,000 pounds of fugitive dust emissions on a yearly basis."

Should these regulations be adopted, they hold tremendous implications for local contractors and subdivision developers.

"I think the commissioners could deny a [new] subdivision, if it put them in violation of the air-pollution control limit," Russell said.

The commissioners have previously adopted ordinances related to road dust, but Russell said they were unenforceable.

However, because the Board of Health is responsible for the local air pollution control regulations, "it has the authority to address this issue, and it becomes an enforceable ordinance," he said.

The board recently increased the penalty for violating the air pollution regulations from $500 per violation per day, to a maximum of $10,000.

"I think some board members believe [this proposal] doesn't go far enough," Russell said. "They think we need to go even further to get ahead of this issue. At some point, we need to say whoa to the use of gravel roads."

Reporter Bill Spence may be reached at 758-4459 or by e-mail at bspence@dailyinterlake.com