Agencies consider expansion of interim storage area for soil

A proposal to expand an interim storage area for contaminated soil is under consideration by agencies involved with the Libby Superfund cleanup.

The storage area known as the “amphitheater” is located about two miles up the road that leads from Highway 37 to the former W.R. Grace & Co., vermiculite mine. Its purpose is to serve as a temporary storage location for contamined soil unloaded by the scores of trucks working out of Libby.

“The trucks come from various properties in town and unload, get decontaminated and go back for another load,” Environmental Protection Agency community involvement coordinator Ted Linnert said. “The dedicated trucks take those soils from the amphitheater back to the mine.”

Dedicated trucks are defined as those that are not decontaminated and stay on mine property to deliver soil to pit areas.

“There are thoughts of expanding the interim storage to basically handle the soils excavated from Libby over the next couple of years and potentially soil from Troy,” Dick Sloan, a remedial project manager for the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, told Lincoln County commissioners last week. “There have been concerns about stability or even if it’s a good idea to be storing that there.”

Linnert confirmed that approximately 120,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil is currently located at the temporary site, which is in the open backed up against a hillside. Sloan said the proposal could place up to 450,000 cubic yards of soil at the site.

“The question has come up and it’s valid – is there the potential say during a heavy rainfall or if you get serious spring runoff, of some of that soil migrating down Rainey Creek, down across the highway and into that property along the river?” Sloan said. “The real question is taking a good look at the area whether or not if it’s a place where you want to store even more material for the short-term.”

Commissioner John Konzen mentioned that if an expansion occurred, he would have concerns over its location in what he sees as a flood plain.

“I think the area is outside of the flood plain but it’s something that we’re evaluating,” EPA Libby team leader Victor Ketellapper said last week.

“The amphitheater is located well above the main flow of Rainey Creek,” Linnert said. “We don’t think the flood plain per se is a major issue but we’re still looking into that.”

Sloan said that in his own personal opinion, the area to him appears to be in a flood plain.

“It’s a pretty narrow valley and the banks of Rainey Creek are not very high,” Sloan said. “That’s the key to determining a flood plain. I took a bunch of pictures and am currently looking at it from an elevation point of view. I think maybe it could be in the flood plain. We need to determine that and decide what to do with that material.”

Officials are hoping that W.R. Grace & Co., will be interested in using the contaminated soil. Financial considerations come into play with Linnert estimating the pricetag at $500,000 for moving soil from the amphitheater to the mine site over a year’s time.

“We’re trying to figure out if W.R. Grace has a need for that soil for their reclamation purposes up at the mine and if they’d be willing to haul to the mine and save taxpayer money,” Linnert said. “We don’t know and can’t say whether or not W.R. Grace will use this soil.”

“We haven’t had that conversation yet,” Ketellapper said. “We wanted to make sure it’s feasible … I think that soil could be a resource for reclamation.”

Sloan said there are a lot of concerns that still need to be addressed before considering the project.

“It’s something we’ll try to resolve in the next couple of weeks so we’ll be ready for the next construction season,” Sloan said. “We need to make sure we’ve got a secure place to take the material excavated out of yards.”

In other cleanup news from the Jan. 13 commissioners meeting, Montana DEQ’s Catherine LeCours, remedial project manager for Troy, updated commissioners via conference call about plans in Operable Unit 7. LeCours said there are approximately 110 to 120 properties in Troy that need some sort of action but that number is not set in stone with further information needed.

When asked about whether or not the Troy cleanup work could be done in one year, LeCours said “in theory … but with scheduling, we’re probably looking at two years.”

Broken down, LeCours said about 75 properties are interior cleanups that could begin early this year. About 20 involve exterior-only cleanups and another 15 or so involve both interior and exterior. In all, LeCours said about 400 properties were examined.

In addition, officials have been testing various roadways in Troy.

“We sampled all of the roads and alleys and in general, there is nothing of significant interest … only a few cases of visible flakes,” LeCours said.

Highways 2 and 56 were not tested – those roadways fall under Operable Unit 8.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will be in charge of the OU 7 cleanup projects in terms of soil and attic material removal.

LeCours hopes to hold a public meeting in Troy around March 10 to share information with the public.

In other items mentioned during last week’s meeting:

• Linnert announced that he would retire sometime this year. Libby Faulk is being trained to replace him.

• A complete interior cleaning and asbestos removal was recently completed in Stinger Welding’s main building. Workers there detected material in the walls while installing a door.

• Linnert confirmed that the historic Hotel Libby will undergo an interior cleanup this spring. Work is expected to begin in March. Other cleanup projects scheduled include residences that initially denied work or had owners that could not be located.

• The EPA has plans for a public meeting on Monday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m., at a location to be determined. Among the subjects that will be covered is activity-based sampling results from local schools.