For getting the work done, thanks

Inter Lake editorial

The long-simmering growth policy for Flathead County took a major step forward this week.

The Flathead County Planning Board unanimously recommended approval of the policy, sending it on to the county commissioners for the next step of deliberations.

The growth policy has been four years in the making and, once it's finally adopted, will serve as the county's fundamental planning document. It will provide the foundation for subdivision and zoning regulations and offer guidance on how the Flathead Valley should develop.

Getting to this point "is a huge accomplishment for Flathead County," board chairman Jeff Larsen said.

We agree.

And although many people may have differences over elements of the growth policy - there is no one all-encompassing document that will please everyone - we all should be able to appreciate the work that went into the growth plan.

Planning-office staffers certainly had a big hand in producing the growth policy, and many citizens provided input.

But a special thank-you is due to the members of the Planning Board who sat through dozens of meetings and workshops and waded through hundreds of pages of public testimony. Attending an average of four long meetings a month this year, many of them probably put in enough hours to make the growth-policy process almost a full-time job.

And they did this for no pay other than the satisfaction of helping steer the future of the Flathead.

It was unsettling to learn last week that the Environmental Protection Agency cannot verify the effectiveness of its asbestos cleanup in Libby.

The federal agency has spent well over $100 million to help rid the community of asbestos contamination linked to the former W.R. Grace vermiculite mine. Cleanup has included asbestos removal from homes, school facilities, public parks, industrial and commercial areas.

It's understandable that Libby folks are upset and worried. Homes and sites they thought had a clean bill of health now may have to be re-examined.

On the other hand, Libby needs to remember that there cannot be any 100 percent assurance that there is no more danger from asbestos. Even if all known problem areas are cleaned up, there are other unknown dangers awaiting discovery.

To the EPA's credit, the agency responded quickly after the extent of contamination came to light in 1999. It quickly set up a Libby office and plunged headlong into the investigation and subsequent cleanup, all the while breaking new ground in this arena because of the widespread pervasive contamination for Libby's unusually toxic form of asbestos.

Unfortunately, EPA is a government agency, and thus will fall prey to the usual problems that hinder any bureaucracy. It is troubling, certainly, to discover the agency made a budget decision to scrap crucial testing to determine ways in which exposure can occur and the potential of contaminants to make people sick. Moreover, a report issued by the agency's inspector general noted inconsistencies in EPA documents that explain how people can live with asbestos in their homes.

Such mistakes will occur, but as Libby continues to rebound from its environmental disaster, there is every reason to expect that the EPA will try to help the community. Effective cleanup is in everyone's best interest.