Citizen groups rise up to counter road dust

Two groups, both born out of frustration over road dust, have been making concentrated efforts to force Flathead County into action.

The North Fork Road Coalition for Health and Safety is now in its third year of pressuring the county. The coalition, chaired by North Fork resident Robert Grimaldi, commissioned and paid for a dust study by two professors at the University of Montana.

Results from the study, which was released in June, showed that people driving the North Fork Road were exposed to levels of particulate matter far above amounts accepted by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Samples of the road dust also showed that the particulate matter held aluminum, silicon, potassium, calcium and iron.

Silica has a well-documented ability to damage lung tissue.

Mice exposed to high levels of North Fork Road dust developed damaged lungs and showed the beginning stages of emphysema. The pathology of repeated exposure was similar to problems caused by cigarette smoke.

Since the study was published two months ago, hardly a word has been spoken about it.

"I'm not surprised that there has been virtually no response to the health study," Grimaldi said. "They're not saying anything. They hope it goes away."

"They" would be the county commissioners, and Grimaldi is less than thrilled with the county's response to the North Fork Road.

Grimaldi said he and his group have repeatedly asked the county for a plan on how to take care of the road but have been brushed aside.

"The most disappointing is the failure by the county to answer their mail, to talk to us and give us a plan other than saying, 'We have no money,'" he said. "They treat the citizens like a nonentity. As long as they have that mindset, I see them as journeymen vagabonds passing through."

The North Fork Road is unique because it is used by a legion of government vehicles, tourists and commercial rafting companies. Very few people even live next to the road.

"Dust isn't just an issue for people," Grimaldi said. "It's going into the river, into the air. They are finding aluminum in the high-mountain lakes. It's a human health and safety issue and it's an environmental concern."

Grimaldi also said he's confused that dust generated by the North Fork Road isn't a concern for environmental groups. When the road was poised for paving, environmental groups blocked the project.

"Environmentalists are an odd bunch," Grimaldi said. "They are ignoring what's going on right here in the Flathead, but they are whining about what Canada may or may not do. This is harming Glacier National Park. It's harming the bull trout. They'll come to the rescue of a grasshopper, but they won't take care of things like this."

A more countywide effort to pave roads has been undertaken by Flathead Citizens for Paved Roads. McMannamy Draw resident Mark Gluth is the group's president, and he is just as disgruntled as Grimaldi.

"I think they've just become frustrated with us," Gluth said of the commissioners. "They see the same faces coming and going every time. There's an apathy. I don't feel like we are harassing, but we've been persistent because of the suffering from the dust."

Members of Gluth's group have been active in speaking before the commissioners and the Road Advisory Committee, but a perceived lack of response has led many people to give up.

"The moral of the story is if you've got money, if you're someone of position, you can get things done," Gluth said. "We're pretty small. The squeaky wheel doesn't always get the grease."

Reporter Michael Richeson may be reached at 758-4459 or by e-mail at mricheson@dailyinterlake.com