Lack of funding pushes EPA project back

The Environmental Protection Agency's Region 8 Work Plan for 2008 does not include the clean up and abatement of the green and tee boxes at Cabinet View Country Club because of insufficient funding.

In an emotional, shape-shifting, town meeting at the Little Theatre in Libby last Thursday, Paul Peronard, Team Leader for Region 8, presented a detailed work plan for Libby's 2008 clean-up budget. Bill Murray, Region 8 Superfund Remedial Program Director, made his first ever visit to Libby to support the work plan design.

In September 2007, Peronard approached the Community Advisory Group with a project priority matrix. Peronard asked for help in prioritizing the cleanups according to risk, community value, individual/family impact, economic value, cost and the ability to reduce risk. The cleanups were identified as: properties $17 million; creeks, approximately $2 million, (includes restoration); Cabinet View Country Club, $2 million; and Troy, $8 million. The cleanup budget for 2007 was $17 million and the "wish list" for the 2008 cleanup budget came to $29 million.

Based on the expected annual budget of only $17 million, Peronard was faced with deciding which site would remain contaminated. Members of the CAG were reluctant to ask the public to vote on these choices because they felt it would resurrect some old divisions in the community and also because they felt the public did not understand the issues.

The CAG and Peronard decided to call a special town meeting in January and prior to the meeting comment forms would be made available to the public.

In December, Ted Linnert, of Region 8, announced that the priorities would have a little reprieve because "Flower Creek will be cleaned up by our Emergency Response program so none of Libby's budget will be spent on that project."

When the FY 2008 Work Plan - Comment Forms became available on-line, the public was asked to comment on: the constructiveness of soliciting public comment versus having the EPA plan without public input? Which is higher priority in 2008, the golf course or the creek beds? Can the streets and citizens tolerate more EPA project truck traffic during the construction season.

The only parts of the matrix addressed in the comment form were the creek and the golf course. This was after the creek cleanup had been moved to the emergency response program freeing up money. The comment about putting off cleanup or having increased truck traffic seemed to make the traffic a reason for not doing more than one large cleanup per year.

"The decision, by the EPA, not to clean the golf course, is the worst decision the EPA has made in Libby," said Gordan Sullivan, a member of TAG or Technical Advisory Group, an offshoot of CAG. "A known source of exposure is being ignored. This is tragic, and not unlike W. R. Grace's decision to walk away from a known danger."

Sullivan said 15,000 rounds of gold represent a significant number of individuals who are potentially going to be exposed. He asks how many of those individuals are teenagers and how is the golf course different from the football field and the running track that were cleanup priorities.

Sullivan doesn't play golf and doesn't want to learn, but he believes ignoring what Peronard describes as an exposure of two fold magnitude because of lack of funding, is a crime.

"Why," asked Sullivan, "If Libby is, as Administrator Stephen Johnson said in August, the top Superfund site in the nation, is there not enough money?"

Sullivan challenged Murray to bring the EPA officials and the Senators from Montana to Libby within 30 days to answer that question.

The invitation to the Community Advisory Group Meeting on Jan. 10, said, "this is your chance to significantly influence the Superfund process." A fairly large crowd, sat silently, for the most part, while a few dissenter spoke out.

The work plan has been written and, unless challenged at the 7 p.m. CAG meeting on Feb. 14, it will remain as written. Sullivan said he is afraid he will see warning signs posted at CVCC and tyvek-clad grounds keepers.