County, DEQ await decision on LAA wood-chip piles

In Libby and Troy, large piles of debris from nearby flora have tested positive for Libby amphibole asbestos.

The mounds, stump piles in Libby and Troy and a brush pile in Troy, were tested by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, and revealed small amounts of the toxic asbestos.

An additional brush pile in Libby did not test positive for asbestos.

Kathi Hooper, Lincoln County Environmental Health Director, emphasized the health risk was minimal from the piles.

“I wouldn’t say they are toxic,” Hooper said. “The DEQ did test the wood piles and found a very small amount of asbestos.”

In the past, local, county and state authorities could chip and potentially burn the piles. The DEQ shut this down. The burning of these piles potentially could pose a health risk to anyone caught downwind.

That leaves things muddled for the DEQ and Lincoln County Environmental Health.

“We’re not sure what to do with them now,” Hooper said. “The EPA has made some suggestions.”

One of the recommendations from the EPA and DEQ was to wet the piles and do air-monitoring to maintain a healthy level of air quality near the piles.

If these levels do reach an unhealthy mark, it is possible the piles would be transported to a safer location, such as the W.R. Grace mine site.

Even that would pose a logistics problem, as the piles represent 2.5 years of brush and stumps. Hooper was unable to provide tonnage, but was able to say it was a significant amount of wood. 

Furthermore, the transportation itself may pose a problem if tarp-covered trucks proved to not meet DEQ standards. 

John Podolinsky, the DEQ’s Superfund project manager: remediation division, was closer to the project than Hooper, but could not be reached before print.