Letter writing causing school woes
By ROGER MORRIS Western News Publisher
The latest report of bark studies for asbestos fibers in the Libby area is causing unnecessary concern about safety at local schools, it was learned at the Community Advisory Group meeting Thursday night.
Libby school superintendent Kirby Maki reported he recently received letters of inquiry from U.S. Sen. Max Baucus'
(D-Mont.) office and U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg's (R-Mont.) office.
The latest round of tree bark studies presented last month by researcher Dr. Tony Ward of the University of Montana at the CAG meeting showed the presence of fibers in trees near Libby Middle School and along the railroad tracks east of Libby. Researchers did not know what this meant in terms of safety. The purpose of their study is to map how extensive the pollution was from the former W.R. Grace mine and milling operations in this area.
Maki explained at that meeting that the school administration has warned teachers, students and parents not to disturb the bark on trees in the vicinity of the middle school.
When Ward first presented data on trees studied near the old vermiculite mine, EPA on-site coordinator Jim Christiansen said while the number of fibers identified by Ward in a sqaure centimeter of bark sounds alarming it amounts to less than 1 percent. Ward said his studies were in an area nobody has ventured before.
Last week, Maki noted that the EPA tested all the schools for asbestos dust and found no areas of concern. The EPA did remove vermiculite from the playgrounds at some schools, and vermiculite was used as a base of the tracks at LMS and Libby High School.
Maki said the latest tree bark reports spurred letter writing from Mike Crill, who presently lives in Missoula.
"I don't what the answer is," said Peggy Churchill, EPA acting on-site coordinator. "That is a really good example of whenever you come out with data and you don't have all the answers. It shows what can happen, what can spiral out of control when the right preparation (to release information) is not done."
Maki said the latest concern is primarily with the tree bark study.
"They could have picked any tree in the whole county but jeez not having any answers to whether it is safe or is not safe?" he said.
Like many buildings in the area, the cement block walls at some schools have vermiculite insulation inside the hollows, he said. That hasn't been a problem.
"We have to keep reminding people that we can't leap to conclusions until the project (tree bark) is done," said Mike Giesey, CAG member and president of the board of directors for the Center for Asbestos Related Disease.
Asbestos victim advocate Gayla Benefield said, "perhaps we need to drop the message of a couple of years ago for students to hug a tree."
That message was part of a program to help kids stay still when lost in the woods.