Report: Communication lax

OIG analysis chastises EPA for its dialogue with Libby residents

   Sen. Max Baucus is openly critical of a report released last week by the Office of the Inspector General for the Environmental Protection Agency that indicates the need for improved communication.

   In the OIG report, the agency contends there could and should be improved “communication between the EPA and the community regarding asbestos exposure.”

“The report clearly highlights concerns we have had for the past few years,” said Baucus, a Democrat. “ …  that (the EPA for) Libby does not have an overall communication strategy ‘to guide, coordinate, and evaluate its communication efforts.’”

  On Friday, during an extensive interview with Mike Cirian, the environmental engineer with the Libby office of the EPA, Cirian acknowledged some apprehension about speaking openly to Libby residents, indicating at times he felt stuck in the middle.

  “Hey, I’m the … Nebraska boy who talks too much,” mused Cirian before speaking seriously. “It’s a concern for me. I live here. I’ve raised a family here.

  “The problem is a lot of these are hunches. I can’t decide things on hunches,” Cirian said. “The science needs to catch up with the (demand for answers.)”

  “I have a great relationship with my neighbors,” Cirian said. “I see them in the grocery store and in ACE Hardward. Can communication be better? Sure, anytime communcation can be improved,” Cirian said. 

  Baucus continued: ?“This report highlights something folks in Libby have told me before: Some of their urgent and repeated concerns are being lost in the shuffle of the EPA’s work. I’m particularly disturbed by stories of residents receiving incomplete and curt public responses to valid concerns and anxiety they’re experiencing over potential asbestos contamination in waterways and wood products used in town,” said Baucus.

  Baucus and Sen. Jon Tester requested the investigation last year to help local families and businesses better understand the Superfund cleanup efforts and the risks related to potential asbestos exposure.

  “I’m going to keep pressing EPA so that people in the Libby community and surrounding area have all the available facts they need to raise their families, put food on the table and grow their businesses.”

  ?Baucus also sent letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson urging the agency to implement the coherent communication plan recommended by the Inspector General to keep residents in Libby in the loop on the latest data and ongoing cleanup strategy.