Department of Environmental Quality

Asbestos Containing Material Roundup

In Montana
April 2000

I. Libby 

Cleanup of the Former Screening Plant and Former Exfoliation Plant - The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and W.R. Grace (Grace) are discussing the scope of work and possible disposal options.

Disposal includes asbestos (tremolite/actinolite) contaminated soil and building materials (ACM). A major question will be finding a disposal site for the large amount of contaminated soil and materials at the former screening plant site. The property encompasses roughly 21 acres. EPA's preferred remedial action is to scrape the site and dispose of the material at a nearby site.

One of the sites being considered is the former mine site. Requirements for reclamation have changed throughout the years. Only a small portion of the mine's reclamation bond remains. When the major part of the bond was released, reclamation conclusions did not assume exposed asbestiform materials created a health risk.

The mine site is owned by the Kootenai Development Corporation (KDC). Options for W.R. Grace include repurchasing the mine or a portion of the mine or negotiating an agreement with KDC to use the mine as the repository for the ACM. Sites at the mine that have been mentioned as possible disposal areas for the contaminated material are the Coarse Tailings, the Glory Hole (depending on the characterization of the site), and alternate sites that have been characterized, such as Level 23.

DEQ is interested in further reclamation being done at the mine site. Before this can occur, the following information needs to be gathered or updated:

1. Water quality monitoring in Rainy Creek and its tributaries, Fleetwood Creek and Carney Creek,
2. Air quality monitoring at the mine site,
3. Ground water sampling at the Glory Hole and in other areas throughout the site,
4. Stormwater sampling,
5. Sampling mine wastes and tailings,
6. Soil sampling, and
7. Sampling the fish in Rainy Creek.

Questions regarding authority are still being contemplated. Some of the possibilities include:

1. EPA using its authority to pave the road leading to the mine, place the ACM at an approved site(s), reclaim it, then work with DEQ to address remaining remediation questions.
2. EPA and DEQ agree to a plan that uses a proper site for ACM building materials. The ACM soil could be used as a cover for areas such as the Coarse Tailings or the soil is properly reserved until it can be used in future reclamation efforts.
3. EPA scores the site as a potential Super Fund site, and the subsequent scoring makes it a federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) site.
4. The Super Fund scoring doesn't qualify the mine site as a federal site, and the DEQ then makes it a State Comprehensive Environmental Cleanup and Responsibility Act (CECRA) Site. Based on current monitoring results at the mine site, other DEQ authorities that might supplement CECRA could be found in the state's air quality and water quality laws.
5. Another option is to consider assistance from the Corps of Engineers under its mine cleanup authority.

As W.R. Grace, EPA and DEQ work to provide a solution to disposing of the ACM at the plant sites, DEQ wants the following considerations to be kept in mind:

1. The department wants to review all removal and disposal plans,
2. Make it clear that the DEQ director is the state's final approving authority for the ultimate removal and disposal plan, and

1. Any plan that involves the mine site should include future reclamation considerations for that area.

• Possible Stockpile Area East of the Former Screening Facility - The EPA discovered the property east of the former Screening Facility was owned by W.R. Grace and possibly used as a storage and stockpile area. The property is currently owned by KDC. The EPA has taken several surface and subsurface soil samples.
• Rainy Creek Road - EPA has placed an air quality monitor along Rainy Creek Road and another monitor at the top of the mine site. Additionally, a total of 58 soil samples were collected along the road from the mine site to Highway 37. The results of the first sampling proved uncertain, so the samples will be sent back and a different method of analysis will be used. The air and soil sampling information will help determine options for addressing the impacts of ACM in the road and right-of-way. Paving the road has been mentioned as a possible option.
• Possible Forest Service Helicopter Landing Area - The EPA collected several surface and subsurface soil samples near the mine site for the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). The USFS wants to develop several helicopter landing areas in the Kootenai Forest. A few of the areas are near the mine.
• Residential Sampling in Libby - Residential sampling includes testing in-door air, dust, insulation, and soil in yards.

1.  The in-door air samples from 32 residences were analyzed twice and only one home had elevated levels of tremolite, while another had elevated levels of chrysotile (which is a form of asbestos that is not associated with the ore at the mine site).

2.  Surface dust samples from the same homes did find detectable levels of tremolite in 11 homes, but the number and size of the fibers appear not to pose a threat to human health.

3.  Insulation samples were taken in 29 residences. It is uncertain whether the sampling method and analysis were done in such a manner to provide accurate information.

4.  Soil samples were taken at 32 residences. It is uncertain whether the means of analysis can provide accurate information.

Sampling continues at other residences in Libby. Some of the first analyses will be re-analyzed using different analytical methods.

• Local Schools - In-door surface dust samples were collected at five local schools. Chrysotile fibers were detected, but not at a level considered to be a risk to human health.

1. Former Vermiculite Distribution SitesThroughout Montana

The DEQ has inspected former vermiculite distribution sites in Great Falls, MT, and Havre, MT. Recently, the EPA notified the DEQ that the U.S. Gypsum Company's former facility south of Lewistown, MT, received vermiculite from Libby. The DEQ will also inspect this site in the near future.

2. Western Vermiculite

This is an inactive vermiculite mine in the Sapphire Mountains in eastern Ravalli County. It is owned by the Stansbury Holdings Corporation (SHC) and still has an active permit.

Actinolite is known to occur at the Western Vermiculite deposit, but, according to the 1993 EIS, does not occur as asbestiform fibers.

3. Dillon Vermiculite, Inc.

The DEQ and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) have reopened the public comment period for an environmental assessment (EA) prepared in 1999 for the proposed expansion of Dillon Vermiculite, Inc.'s (DVI) mine east of Dillon, MT. The company is owned by SHC.

A 1971 doctoral dissertation on the geology of the Ruby Range contains a number of references to occurrences of such minerals as actinolite, tremolite, anthophyllite, and "cross-fiber serpentine," in the metamorphic rocks which make up the mountain range. A Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology inventory of mines and mineral deposits in Beaverhead County, published in 1972, mentions occurrences of chrysotile and anthophyllite asbestos in the Ruby Range. A limited number of samples from the Dillon Vermiculite deposit have shown small, but detectable amounts of actinolite/tremolite and chrysotile asbestos.

The permit for the proposed expansion has not been issued. Recently, SHC met with DEQ and BLM and agreed that it would be wise to reexamine any potential for asbestiform fibers in the ore deposit.

The public comment period ends on June 9, 2000. Based on the public comments and agency consideration of substantive information and concerns, the DEQ and BLM will decide on how to proceed.

4. A.L. Comer Mine

This vermiculite mine is situated about five miles north of Pony, MT. Although it has an active mining permit, the deposit has never been mined. It is unknown whether asbestos is associated with the deposit, and if so, what form of asbestos. The DEQ is requiring the owner of the mine to reclaim the site this spring.

5. Karst Mine

This state CECRA site is situated about seven miles northeast of Big Sky, just west of the Gallatin River and U.S. Highway 191. The Karst Mine is inactive. The asbestos is anthophyllite.

Production at the mine peaked in 1938 at 1,800 tons. It reportedly operated through World War II, then saw no significant production until the mid-1970s, when owners tried to market the asbestos and considered building a mill. Four-hundred tons of ore were packed in barrels and shipped to a plant in Quebec. Soon after, the project was abandoned.

The Karst Mine is on Gallatin National Forest land. The U.S. Forest Service has been contacted about discussing the future of the mine site. DEQ is waiting to hear from a Gallatin Forest representative.

Asbestos from the mine found its way to three sites in Gallatin County. The largest deposit was north of Gallatin Gateway at a former railroad loading site. The other two sites were in Bozeman. The Gallatin Gateway and one of the Bozeman sites have been cleaned up.

Asbestos from a variety of sources, including possibly from the Karst Mines, have also been identified in the Livingston area.

6. CECRA ACM Sites Throughout Montana

• Updated: 28 Mar 2008
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