Officials see positive future at old mill site

Nearly six years after the negativity surrounding the closure of the Stimson lumber mill site, positive feelings continue to emerge in Libby with the promise of an exciting future.

The potential appears to exist for the 411-acre property to develop into an economic hub for the community as well as all of northwestern Montana. For now, the process continues to figure out the best route to reach fruits of the future.

“What we really want to do is look at the real economic opportunities at the site so we can tailor and gear to those potential users,” said Michael Hancock of E2, a consulting firm that studies redevelopment. “We haven’t finalized exactly how we’re going to approach this but we’ll look at strengths and the businesses at the site and ask, “why would someone come to Libby to start a business?”

Hancock was part of a presentation on Tuesday night that summarized contamination sampling results at the former Stimson site. According to a report from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Kathy Hernandez, data shows good results through cleanup efforts and building demolishment.

“The exposure levels are below trigger level,” Hernandez said, referring to the most recent measurements. “Still, we need the activity-based sampling Š to tell us are we good to go?”

Hancock, who has worked at close to 100 Superfund sites around the country since 2001, said the process would eventually evolve beyond generalities.

“As we work through these different options, then we want to evaluate those business opportunities and ask, are these realistic? Is it too big, too small, what are the real opportunities, and then work on an implementation strategy,” Hancock said. “We’re going to cast a pretty wide net and get down to a set of realistic opportunities.”

Hancock said existing tenants would be interviewed.

“What do they see as advantages, what do they see as opportunities?” Hancock said. “For more of them than not, it might help local business expand. It might be more of an opportunity than attracting other businesses. What opportunities do they see in the market place?”

The timeframe is flexible, Hancock said, but he is hoping the economic analysis will be completed by the end of this coming winter.

As of now, Kootenai River Development Corp., which owns the 411 acres, is moving forward with its phase 2 environmental assessment. Paul Rumelhart, KRDC executive director, is waiting for the federal Record of Decision before plans can be finalized.

“We’ve got the funding to do all the design, specifications and bid documents for the water, the sewer, power and roads, that kind of stuff,” Rumelhart said. “So, when the ROD does come, we’re ready to go. The bids are ready to go, we can roll them out.”

Elements of the funding scenario include money from the Economic Development Administration and a Montana Community Development Block Grant.

Currently, the site includes 19 tenants, although one of those, Stimson, is under what is termed as a temporary shutdown. Rumelhart said those businesses have had a positive impact on the region.

“Realistically, this site now is contributing to the welfare of over 2,000 jobs on a regional basis,” he said. “And people get a little concerned the trucks are coming from Idaho but the Libby loggers are tied up with Plum Creek. But yeah, many benefit from it. You get more money out of a logging truck driver than you do a tourist by any means. One tire is more than a tourist will spend in a week here. You get that type of activity.”

The potential list of possible businesses seems to be long.

“You’ve got to look at what do we have here; we can make something out of wood, and wood doesn’t necessarily mean lumber. It doesn’t necessarily mean posts and poles. It might be energy, it might be ethanol, it might be energy logs, it might be mixing it with concrete to make a lighter brick. We’re looking at all those opportunities,” Rumelhart said.

Stimson’s closure occurred back in October 2002. Over the past six years, contamination sampling has been ongoing.

Hernandez, EPA remedial project manager, went through various contamination measurements that have occurred at the site.

In response to possible timing about the release of the ROD, Hernandez said, “We’re waiting for activity-based sampling. If those results are quite low, we move much more quickly. Give us a couple months to get those back. If the results are high, that complicates things because then what do we do with 400 acres?”

Previous testing has covered dust, bulk material, stationary air and personal air sampling in buildings, along with soil, visible vermiculite, water, bulk material and personal air sampling outdoors.