Big question: Who is on the hook for future cleanup costs?

This week’s release of the toxicity values and human health risk assessment for Libby Amphibole asbestos answered a number of questions plaguing this community. It also raised additional questions.

First and foremost: Who is going to be stuck holding the bag for the remaining cleanup and long-term maintenance?

The $250 million settlement between W.R. Grace & Co. and the Environmental Protection Agency is nearly exhausted. EPA project manager Rebecca Thomas told the Lincoln County commissioners on Wednesday that there was enough money remaining in the fund to complete the operations scheduled for 2015 and possibly 2016, but no more.

According to Thomas, once those funds run out the financial responsibility will fall to the EPA’s Superfund program. Under Superfund regulations, the state assumes responsibility for 10 percent of the cleanup costs.

State Rep. Mike Cuffe of Eureka, who chairs the legislature’s Joint Subcommittee on Long-Term Planning - part of the appropriations committee, expressed his concern about the financial ramifications. “From the time this was set up it’s grown way beyond what anyone expected. We need to work with Sens. Tester and Daines and Rep. Zinke to get that funding stretched out a bit.”

Montana Department of Environmental Quality Remediation District Administrator Jenny Chambers said the split in financial responsibility between the state and potentially the county “hasn’t been determined, but we’re not going to leave Lincoln County hanging.”

County commissioner-elect Mark Peck said that he will be working closely with EPA and the state to make sure the bill doesn’t land on the shoulders of Lincoln County. “It’s an obvious concern. Anything passed down to the county, well, we just don’t have it,” he said. “A promise was made when the silver bullet was used that no cost would be passed down to the county or the city.”

The second question stems from the declaration of a public health emergency in Libby. That declaration triggered a number of benefits, including eligibility for health care benefits for Libby residents and funding for medical programs such as the Center for Asbestos Related Diseases (CARD) clinic in Libby.

That designation, however, also has a downside: public stigma. Montana Sen. Chas Vincent explained the dilemma: “How can we say the air in Libby is safe while there is still a declared public health emergency?”

The question being asked now is how does the agency abate the public health emergency without adversely impacting the benefits that it triggered?

Nick Raines, program manager for Lincoln County’s Asbestos Resource Program explained, “It’s a very delicate topic, it’s a bit of a conundrum,” he said. “To say Libby is safe doesn’t hold a carry a lot of weight while a public health emergency exists. But what happens when it is lifted?”

Libby Amphibole asbestos has a latency period estimated at four decades, meaning an exposed person could not show any symptoms or adverse health impacts for forty years after exposure. If the public health emergency is abated, what happens to people who later show symptoms of asbestos-related disease?

“People need to be taken care of,” Peck said. “We need an equation that looks at the latency period and takes care of everyone.”

These questions add to those already being asked about the long-term operations and maintenance, such as the institutional controls that will be required to maintain the remedy. What property restrictions might be put into place? Who will carry the financial burden for asbestos left in homes and yards that is currently sealed off, but may become exposed in time?

“This is a good step in the right direction,” Vincent said, “but more questions need answered.”