EPA officials to answer question during CAG, TAG meeting Tuesday

Let's say the EPA has finished its work cleaning up the asbestos contamination from the vermiculite mine and has left town.  You need to put a new building on your property, but you know that the basement will go below the level that was excavated and you may find more vermiculite down there.  What do you do?

  Questions like this one will be discussed at a forum co-sponsored by the CAG (Community Advisory Group) and TAG (Technical Advisory Group ) at 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 12, at the Flathead Valley Community College Lincoln County campus.  A representative from the EPA will give a brief overview, representatives from Lincoln County will present the main focus and the MDEQ will be present to answer questions.  Practical, legal, medical and other consideration about what happens in a post-EPA world will be the focus of the meeting.

  When the EPA finishes its work at a site, it leaves in place a system to answer questions about vermiculite, such as: how to handle it, how to protect ourselves and what new people moving in should know.  Before deciding on these procedures, they need to hear from county officials, the city council, the county health board and ordinary citizens about what needs to be included.

  Some of the possible responses might be an excavation ordinance explaining the process to follow, who to call, how to handle asbestos contamination encountered during an excavation or home remodeling project. Permit requirements for a new business that wants to use an old site may be developed. A discussion will take place on how neighbors can respond to someone who has not allowed the EPA to clean up his property, especially if the property is to be sold.  Guidelines will be developed by the county health board to cover exposure from vermiculite found after the EPA has gone.

  The EPA will fund someone to help develop the proposals and list the resources that will be available.  They also return no less than every five years to see how the process has been working and to make any necessary adjustments.

  Persons attending the meeting will be invited to ask questions and to help identify other discussion topics.

   Although it will be several years before the EPA is ready to leave, it's not too early to think about a post-EPA world and how we will be affected.  The forum will be a beginning to the process and interested persons are encouraged to attend.