Officials continue followup on fire

The mill fire in Libby is no longer smoldering, but the aftermath is keeping people busy.

The Lincoln County Environmental Health Department continues to collect samples from debris, ash and ambient air to determine if the material poses a health risk.

“We want to follow up on our sampling and make sure we know exactly what we are dealing with,” said Kathi Hooper, director of the county health department.

The City of Libby/Lincoln County Health Board discussed preliminary test results at a meeting Friday.

Thirteen off-site samples detected the presence of amosite, anthophylite and chrysotile asbestos. Amosite asbestos was detected at 2 percent in four samples and less than 1 percent in two others, according to testing results from Hygeia Laboratories in Sierra Madre, Calif.

Chrysotile asbestos was detected in one sample at less than 1 percent. Anthophylite was detected at 2 percent in four samples and less than 1 percent in two samples. No other forms of asbestos, including Libby amphibole, were detected.

Preliminary results from samples within the plywood plant also showed the presence of chrysotile and anthophylite asbestos. The samples were also tested for other material, such as fiberglass and cellulose.

The results of further testing will determine whether the county is obligated to perform a full cleanup of the ash and debris in the community. 

“We’re not sure this meets a cleanup criteria,” Hooper said. “It has to be greater than 1 percent.”

The county nonetheless contracted Environmental Restoration last week to physically pick up debris in high-use areas in the community, such as parks and schools.

“Even the samples that don’t have asbestos have fiberglass and we don’t want those on our soccer fields and baseball fields,” Hooper said Friday.

Mike Cirian, Environmental Protection Agency field leader in Libby, said at the meeting that ER workers in respirators and hazmat suits shouldn’t spook the public.

“People that are out collecting pieces are in suits because that’s an OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) regulation,” Cirian said. “It isn’t because everybody else should be in suits.”

Hooper said wet street cleaning methods were used to clean up debris from Libby-area roadways. The city street department and county road crew completed many streets in their districts. The state highway department began vacuuming highways on Friday morning.

All materials will be disposed of at the county’s asbestos landfill cell, the county said.

Smoldering had continued to affect local air quality a week after the fire, but a contractor used excavators to turn beams and water them down Saturday, Hooper said, effectively putting out all of the hot spots.

In related news, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office continues its investigation into the cause of the massive fire.

“It’s progressing,” fire investigator Kirk Kraft said Monday. “We’re basically eliminating causes and we’re concentrating in the one area of origin.”

The investigation, conducted by the sheriff’s office and state fire marshal’s office, will take quite a bit of time, Kraft said, because of the seriousness of the fire.

Revett Mineral’s insurance company began a private investigation late last week, according to Paul Rumelhart, executive director of the Kootenai River Development Council, which manages the industrial site that the building rested on. Revett lost four leased rail cars in the fire.

Rumelhart said the industrial site’s insurance on the building had been dropped when the company paid a $3.2 million settlement after the roof collapsed two years ago.