Deal closer in Riverfront cleanup

The Libby City Council and

Environmental Protection Agency officials seem closer to a cleanup

plan for Riverfront Park.

At a meeting Tuesday, the mayor and

council said they would have a design plan ready for the site in

April. The EPA recently sent a letter to the city stating it had

until March 14 to grant access to cleanup the site.

Rebecca Thomas, EPA project manager,

said the EPA needs to know the city is close to a design plan so

that the agency can move forward.

“Our interest is in reducing exposure

(to asbestos),” she said.

The park is the former export plant

site in Libby. Discussions began last year about cleanup and

eventual expansion of the park, which sits south of the Kootenai

River.

The city and EPA have since been trying

to work out a deal that would allow the EPA to remove vermiculite

from the site and the city to develop the park since last fall.

The city recently began working with an

engineer to finalize plans for the park. Changes include moving the

location of the access road to the park and adding a parking

lot.

Thomas said the EPA would like to begin

work on the site.

“We need direction from the city,” she

said. “Give us some direction on the plan.”

The EPA has outlined two options for

cleanup.

The first choice calls for the EPA

using a combination of cut and fill to leave a minimum of 18 inches

of clean fill, or the equivalent, such as 12 inches and a cement

sidewalk. The agency would perform remediation work that would

correspond with the city’s future plans for the site as a park,

such as laying gravel for roadways, cleaning out a utility corridor

and hydroseeding planned grassy areas.

The second option entails that the EPA

perform enough cut and fill to break the exposure pathway, and then

allow the city to carry out its own restoration using funds that

the EPA saved by not performing the work.

Mayor Doug Roll agreed that it was time

to finalize the project.

“You’re waiting for us. We’re waiting

for you,” he said. “And everybody is standing here waiting.

Somebody has to take the first step.”

That first step came in the form of an

extension.

The city will draft a letter to the EPA

asking for an extension on the deadline to get an engineering plan

in place. The council also agreed to create a contract that would

allow the city to carry out its own restoration costs.

The city is also requesting an increase

on the amount the EPA will pay the city for an engineer. The EPA

has agreed to pay $15,000 for engineering on the site, but the city

expects the cost to be closer to $27,000.

“Consider lifting or raising those

engineering fees,” councilmember Bill Bichoff said. “We’re

struggling to come up with that money and that would help us move

along.”