Libby Environmental Health Update

June 12, 2000

Unilateral Administrative Order – Export Plant Facility

W.R. Grace (Grace) signed a Unilateral Administrative Order (UAO) with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on May 24, 2000, to clean up the former Export Plant Facility. The order pertains to an approximately 11-acre area. The order requires Grace to conduct removal actions to abate an imminent and substantial danger to the public health and/or the environment posed by the actual or potential release of asbestos fibers from the site.

Draft Work Plan

As part of the UAO, Grace was ordered to prepare a removal and/or abatement work plan for the Export Plant. This plan was presented to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) on June 7, 2000. The State will provide comments on the work plan to the EPA on June 12, 2000. It is fully anticipated that the draft work plan will be deemed incomplete and Grace will write another plan (Grace will have three days to revise the plan once it receives comments). Many problems exist with the current draft plan, but two major issues will be the limiting factors for the completion of the plan. First, under the order, Grace must relocate the on-site lumber mill business at the Export Plant. Currently, DEQ and EPA are talking to the business owners and reviewing the work plan. According to the two agencies, Grace's proposed relocation plans are inadequate. Second, in the work plan, Grace proposes to clean and not demolish the old buildings at the Export Plant. Both EPA and DEQ feel this is not possible, and will create long-term problems for future users of the buildings. EPA told Grace that the building must be torn down and the material hauled to the mine site for disposal.

Excavation is scheduled to begin next month.

Action Memorandum – Screening Plant Facility

On May 23, 2000, the EPA completed and signed the Action Memorandum (AM) approving of the removal action for the former Grace Screening Plant located at the confluence of Rainy Creek and the Kootenai River. Unlike the UAO with Grace for the Export Plant, the AM addresses the cleanup, by the EPA (CERCLA Fund-Lead Financed) of immediate threats identified at the former Screening Plant by the EPA and DEQ during their investigations. Proposed work outlined in the EPA’s work plan states that all buildings on the 21-acre property will be demolished and up to 18 inches of contaminated soil scraped away, followed by complete restoration of the property. Issues that still need to be addressed at the site include the protection of the lower Rainy Creek (which flows through the property), the protection of the Kootenai River's banks, and the possibility of deed restrictions on the property. The latter issue stems from EPA desiring to leave in the ground the foundation of the long shed, an approximate one acre (unknown thickness) concrete slab with two inch rebarb. EPA wants to collapse the tunnels under the slab, and bury the slab with several feet of backfill. This could create a land use problem, limiting the ability for subsurface development in the area for the owners (current and future).

Other issues that have arisen concerning the property include:

  • A historical, archeological Native American site has been identified on the property along the Kootenai River. Historically, Native Americans would come from the Yaak and other surrounding mountains and settle along the banks of the river on this property. It is believed that an ancient Native American burial ground exists on the site.
  • It is believed a historical cowboy fur trading post existed on the property. Near the Native American summer settling grounds, Americans from the western movement came down from the surrounding mountains and set up a trading camp along the Kootenai River.
  • The current property owners, the Parkers, have approximately 48,000 pine tree seedlings and small bushes that are proposed to be disposed of at the mine site because they are growing in contaminated soil. DEQ has proposed to the EPA and the current owners that Grace and the DEQ use these seedlings to reclaim the mine site. Discussions with the EPA and the owners have been extremely favorable. DEQ has yet to discuss the idea with Grace.

    Excavation is scheduled to begin this month with the relocation of the Parkers by June 15, 2000. The Parkers will be relocated into temporary housing until a permanent house is available on July 15, 2000. Marcor, EPA’s contractor, will be on site on June 12, 2000 to begin inventorying the Parkers property, start setting up the decontamination stations, and begin abating the Parkers property that will not be disposed.

Other Property Issues

Grace and the Kootenai Development Corporation (KDC) are negotiating the sale of the mine site back to Grace. The latest update from Mark Owens (current owner) and Grace (Allan Stringer) is that Grace is buying the entire mine site from KDC and that the agreement will be complete prior to the end of the month. The five acres, or less, of land east of the Parkers (Former Screening Plant) is currently owned by Owens. The property is believed to be included in the sale to Grace. Therefore, the EPA will not clean up this area. Grace most likely will do the work in conjunction with remedial work at the former Export Plant property.

According to Owens, he owns an old gravel pit along Rainy Creek. The area reportedly has enough gravel to be used for the backfill at both the Export and Screening Plants. DEQ proposed the use of this material to both EPA and Grace. Both parties seemed to agree that the material could be used as backfill, and, because of the nearby location, the material should be used. It is believed Grace is negotiating with KDC over the use of the material.

The U.S. Forest Service says the boreal toad (Scientific Name – Bufo Boreas) is living in and around the mine site’s impoundment area, now a thriving, ecologically rich, marsh. Favorite habitat areas for the toad are wetlands in high mountain areas – northwestern Montana is a favorable habitat for the boreal toad. These toads are considered high altitude toads that are classified as a very sensitive species in Montana (endangered species in Colorado). For about one month out of the year this toad will migrate from the forest (along upper Rainy Creek) to the impoundment/marsh land and breed. This migration occurs when the weather is warm (mid-May and early June) and is assumed to be occurring now. For the summer, the toads will breed and lay eggs in the impoundment/marsh land and then migrate back to the forest area. Unfortunately, the toad will be crossing the main and only corridor road to the mine site. Consequently, the road will have to either be monitored or closed for a short period of time. DEQ has captured, identified, and photographed the boreal toad to confirm that the migration is occurring.

Waste Disposal

DEQ had a conference call with the EPA on June 6, 2000 to discuss possible disposal options for the contaminated material at the mine site, other than using the area referred to as Level 23. EPA was very open to DEQ’s suggestions and desire for stockpiling the contaminated soil and burying the building material. On June 8, 2000, the DEQ, EPA, Grace, and other agency representatives toured the mine site to discuss DEQ’s alternative options for disposal. It was agreed that the contaminated soil removed from both former facilities will be stockpiled in "Area 19," and all building material will be buried next to "Level 12" where excessive amounts of overburden material is located. The overburden material will be used to cover the building material.

Grace, in conjunction with DEQ, will undertake the investigation of the "Glory Hole." Per DEQ’s request, Grace will install a well adjacent to the Glory Hole. In addition, Grace will remove the overburden material used to cover the hole and will dig a trench along the hole so DEQ can determine what was buried in the Class II landfill during reclamation in 1990. Grace will develop a work plan for the investigation for DEQ's review and approval.

EPA 1985 Report

While at a conference in Colorado, it was reported that the EPA (Region VIII) announced that a 1985 EPA report (Exposure Assessment for Asbestos – Contaminated Vermiculite) stated that 100% of the people who worked at the mine in Libby will die of asbestos related diseases. After talking to the Region VIII personnel, the journalist who wrote the newspaper article allegedly misquoted the EPA representative. The 1985 report does not state that 100% of the mineworkers would die (DEQ is in the process of reading the report and a summary will follow). However, the article does point to the fact that the EPA was aware of the health problems associated with the Libby mine, yet did not take any action or notify the people of Libby of the problems. Consequently, residents of Libby have requested an explanation concerning why EPA did not take any action or inform the people of Libby. Region VIII has stated that it did not know of the problems. The 1985 report was done by EPA Headquarters and the results were reportedly never given to Region VIII; however, Region VIII has tried to account for the EPA actions in the 1980’s by developing a "Libby Vermiculite/Asbestos Time Line," listing all the EPA documents about the issue. EPA Headquarters requested that Region VIII direct all questions to Headquarters.

Because of the above outcome, Libby residents have requested that the State of Montana (specifically DEQ/the Department of Health and Human Services) also inventory the actions taken or not taken by state agencies from the 1960’s through the 1990’s. The State of Montana has already provided this information. Interested persons can access the DEQ's Internet home page at http://www.deq.mt.gov/ (Libby Environmental Health Update: February 16, 2000, Historical Timeline for W.R. Grace Mine at Libby) for a chronology of the state's involvement.

Points of Concern

Health Screening
Number Comment
1,359 Households in Libby have been contacted about the medical screening program.
1,800 Libby residents have become eligible for the screening program.
1,607 Libby residents have signed up for the screening program.
215 Libby residents have declined the screening program.
742 Households (~31%) in Libby have yet to be contacted for the program.

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry has estimated that approximately 3,000 Libby residents will go through the medical screening program. Construction of the foundation for the facilities for the medical screening program (next to the hospital) has begun. The buildings are projected to be completed by the last week of June, which is when the screening of Libby residents is scheduled to begin.

Other Points of Concern

  • The federal onsite field laboratory for testing of soil and air samples from the abatement projects is scheduled to be up by the last week of June.
  • Results from the March-April residential home air sampling are scheduled to be available by the end of June.
  • The Libby Asbestos Conference scheduled for August of 2000 has been postponed until a later date. The State of Montana agrees with the postponement.
  • Residents of Libby are concerned about the presence of vermiculite in homes and are showing a strong desire to have the material removed. Local government officials are very concerned that if the people remove the vermiculite (either by a contractor or by themselves) this will create a potential health danger. Local officials are considering creating a city-wide ordinance banning any removal of vermiculite from homes by homeowners. Any abatement work must be completed by a state certified asbestos abatement contractor. The local officials have requested that the DEQ help address this potential problem.