Twice-cleaned Libby site still contaminated

By LYNNETTE HINTZE

The Daily Inter Lake

U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., has demanded an independent investigation of the Environmental Protection Agency after learning of extensive asbestos contamination at a Libby site that had been cleaned twice with oversight from the federal agency.

In a telephone call to the Daily Inter Lake on Thursday, Burns said the amount of contamination found this week at the export site for the former W.R. Grace vermiculite mine "calls into question what kind of work the EPA does" and raises concerns about the integrity of the entire asbestos cleanup process in Libby.

Asbestos remediation has been ongoing in Libby since 1999, when local and national news media exposed the extent of widespread disease and death linked to asbestos poisoning from the mine.

A city utility crew was digging a water line on the site near the river (where Millwork West was formerly located) when it hit a patch of vermiculite about 8 to 12 inches deep, 3 feet wide and 20 feet long.

"It's a big chunk," Burns said.

The site initially was cleaned a few years ago by W.R. Grace with supervision by the EPA. Later, when more contamination was found there, the EPA conducted its own cleanup.

"The sheer amount of material left behind and the proximity to the surface after this supposed cleanup is outrageous and inexcusable," Burns said in a press release.

Ironically, the water line was intended to supply water for a sprinkling system at a nearby park that features the Asbestos Victims Memorial.

Libby Mayor Tony Berget said he, too, is dismayed by the amount of contamination found at the export site. The federal agency has generally been "pretty good" with its cleanup effort, he said.

City workers contacted the EPA after they dug into the vermiculite and federal officials first told the crew to wet down the area to get a better idea of the amount of contamination.

"A little while later the supervisor ran into a lot thicker stuff," Berget said. "We're talking a foot thick of heavy material. It's a pretty significant amount of tremolite."

Tremolite, a byproduct of the vermiculite, is one of the most toxic forms of asbestos.

Buildings on the export site were torn down when federal officials deemed them too contaminated to clean. Use of the property, owned by the city, remains in limbo.

"At this point, we have to ask, 'Do we want that property? What can we do with it?"

Burns said he expected to meet this morning with EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson to talk about the latest asbestos cleanup snafu.

Berget will meet with EPA officials in Libby on Tuesday and expects a public meeting that evening will focus on the export-site problem.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com