EPA plans activity-based sampling at schools
The Environmental Protection Agency plans to continue testing at local school sites, the agency’s Libby field leader told Lincoln County commissioners last week.
Mike Cirian said the EPA and the school district are working together on activity-based sampling on all local campuses. That includes the administration building, high school, middle school, Asa Wood and the former Plummer building that now houses Head Start.
“We met with the superintendent, principals of each school, some athletic folks and maintenance workers and we are coming up with activity-based sampling ideas for each of the public schools,” Cirian said. “We’ll come up with a set of plans that we’ll hash out and solidify.”
No children will be involved – only adults that will wear monitors that simulate the average height of a child on the campus being tested. Although plans were still in the works, Cirian mentioned activities such as participating in sports on athletic fields or going on playground equipment on campuses for younger students. In short, high-usage areas.
In addition, testing will be done while re-creating tasks completed by maintenance workers – digging, raking, mowing and cutting weeds, sweeping sidewalks and the high school track, and the sweeper that cleans parking lots.
“We’re hoping by July that we can get started and doing it in July, August and maybe September – depending on the weather,” Cirian said.
In other cleanup news, Catherine LeCours, remedial project manager, announced that a public meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday, June 2, at the Kootenai Senior Center in Troy. The meeting will include discussion of property reports, including analytical soil results from 2007-08.
LeCours said she could “count on one hand” what she would consider properties with intermediate or high concentrations of visible vermiculite. In addition, she said a different picture appears to be materializing in Troy in regards to cleanup.
Commissioner John Konzen questioned LeCours on those comments.
“It’s different … I think we need to be open to looking at data and what the information gathering up there is telling us,” she said, later adding, “We’ve got removal criteria now and we can refine those for remedial action. I’m suggesting it won’t be identical to OU4 and that’s OK.”
Operable Unit 4 refers to Libby and OU 7 encompasses Troy.
Konzen expressed frustration over the process, including all of the delays that have dragged into years. He also asked why the EPA was going to the trouble of “reinventing the wheel” on a cleanup in Troy.
“Because of different situations,” Libby Team Leader Victor Ketellapper said. “We feel that we need to have a different, independent feasibility study for OU4 and OU7.”
On another topic, a public hearing on OU 1 (former export plant property) and OU 2 (former screening plant) is coming on June 23, LeCours announced. The EPA has separate proposed plans for actions to take on the properties and will be seeking public feedback.
LeCours said a court-style transcriptionist would be at the meeting to take down comments from those who share their opinions verbally. Comments will also be accepted in written form through an upcoming 60-day comment period.
“I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to get public input at this time,” said Ted Linnert, EPA community involvement coordinator. “The comments will be reviewed and summarized in an appendix to the ROD (Record of Decision).”
In other news from the May 13 meeting:
• Cirian said this past Wednesday that 15 properties were in the cleanup process with two completed. The EPA was also responding to a couple of requests from the city, including a 200-by-25 foot area in the Riverfront Park area.
• Cirian reported that efforts at the Stinger Welding site have gone well. Additional sampling was completed at the former Stimson Mill site and Cirian said testing came back as “non-detect” and “non-visible.” Work continues at the site ahead of schedule.