EPA fills Libby team leader vacancy

Although his official start date does not arrive until Nov. 23, Victor Ketellapper is already making phone calls and getting into the loop on upcoming meetings related to the Environmental Protection Agency Superfund cleanup in Libby.

The EPA’s Kathie Atencio said Wednesday that Ketellapper has been hired as the new Libby team leader.

Ketellapper, 49, is an experienced remedial project manager with the EPA and has gone on several assignments in Montana – including Libby – in the past.

“He did do a detail just about a year-and-a-half ago where he started doing site assessment work, which is still part of the Superfund process,” Atencio said. “Site assessment is kind of more in the beginning, so that’s when we look at discovering new sites that should then be listed onto the national priority list. So he did a lot of work there and he’s actually come up to Montana quite a bit.”

When Atencio mentioned him during Wednesday morning’s Lincoln County commissioners meeting, many immediately recognized the name. Ketellapper said he was in Libby years ago for a discussion on the future of the community in terms of economic development and how that tied into the Superfund.

Ketellapper officially replaces Paul Peronard, who this summer left the Libby team leader role and returned to his duties as on-scene coordinator.

“We’re going to do cleanups at the site and I don’t see making any big changes in the next week or two,” Ketellapper said Wednesday via phone interview.

Ketellapper added that focus will eventually change to long-term solutions.

“Those are the types of discussions I’m looking forward to having with the people in Libby,” he said.

Ketellapper’s most recent assignment was working at the Gilt Edge Mine site in the northern Black Hills of South Dakota. In all, he has worked for the EPA for 17 years – 15 of those in the Superfund program as a project manager.

Ketellapper’s hiring came off the EPA’s second announcement of the vacancy. The agency’s closing date on the position was Sept. 2 and then the interviewing process got under way.

“We had quite a few candidates,” Atencio said. “We did first interviews, screened them down to four or five people and then conducted all of our second interviews last week, and so the decision was made toward the end of the week and then confirmed on Monday this week. It took us a little over two months.”

Ketellapper expects to make it to Libby in early December for the first time since accepting the job.

In other news, the EPA is considering restructuring its Superfund programs in Region 8. Currently, Atencio’s unit encompasses Libby along with sites in Utah. A unit under Russ Leclerc covers Colorado, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Atencio said the proposal is to move Libby to Leclerc’s unit. Changes could also be made with the various remedial project managers.

Ketellapper has worked with Leclerc over the past five years.